


Freedom

by JCapasso



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:47:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 27,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21876757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCapasso/pseuds/JCapasso
Summary: When Michael takes over Dean and they get him locked down, Sam remembers another archangel that got left behind, and now that they have access to archangel grace...Takes place at the end of 14x9/beginning of 14x10
Relationships: Gabriel/Sam Winchester
Comments: 48
Kudos: 112





	1. Chapter 1

Freedom  
Chapter 1

Michael smirked as he looked over the ragtag group sent to kill him. “Yeah. When I gave up Dean, you didn't think to question it, to ask why? Dean was resisting me. He was too attached to you, to all of you. He wouldn't stop squirming -- to get out, to get back. So I left but not without leaving the door open just a crack.

Cas looked slightly confused, and very worried as he asked, “Why wait?”

Michael’s smirk widened. “To break him, to crush and disappoint him so completely that, this time, he'll be nice and quiet for a change -- buried. And he is. He's gone. And now I have a whole army out there, waiting, ready for my command, ready for this.” He waved a hand as Sam, Cas, and Jack fell to their knees in pain. “Now, this...just feels right. Hope is an amazing thing, isn't it? You had no chance of winning this. None. But you had hope -- hope that I wouldn't see you coming, but I saw everything. And now I have my perfect vessel. I've just destroyed the one weapon that could really hurt me. Thanks for bringing that, by the way.” Cas gets up to approach Michael, but Michael grabs him by the throat. “Don’t interrupt me,” he hissed menacingly. 

Sam used that moment of distraction to douse the archangel in holy oil, giving Cas the opportunity to get the archangel into the angel cuffs. “We need to get him back to the bunker,” Sam told them, ignoring Michael’s attempts to get out. 

“What about everything going on out there?” Cas asked motioning towards the chaos in the city. 

“The other hunters can handle that,” Sam said regretfully. He hated walking away from the fight, but this was more important. “We have to get him locked down and fast.” 

At that, the three of them got Michael loaded up in the Impala and headed for the bunker as fast as they could. Sam felt a lot better when they had him in the warded dungeon, and now he could turn his mind to figuring this out. He ignored Michael’s ranting and threats as he considered the matter and then he realized that solving one of his problems could help solve the other. “Cas. Can you get into Dean’s head and try to find him like he did when you were possessed by Lucifer?” 

“Do you still have the apparatus you used then?” Cas asked, not sure if he could do it with his own power. When Sam nodded, he asked, “Just me? What about you?” 

“I have something else to do. A backup plan so to speak,” Sam told him. He definitely wasn’t going to let on that there were more reasons for what he was doing. “But first I’ll need some of his grace,” he said turning to look at Michael.

“You wish to return to the apocalypse world? Why?” Cas asked confused. 

“To find Gabriel, and bring him back,” Sam said firmly, daring them to talk him out of it. 

“Gabriel is dead, Sam. We saw him die,” Cas pointed out. 

“And how many times have we seen Gabriel die now? I didn’t say anything before because we didn’t have a chance to get archangel grace to get him back, but if there is any chance he survived, we can’t just leave him there. And maybe he can help with Michael.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Jack piped up. “We don’t have much to lose really.”

“We could lose Sam over there again,” Cas pointed out. “We have no idea what’s happened there since Michael left.

“I have no intention of going far from the portal. I’m just going to step through, pray for Gabe and then wait for him to come,” Sam told him. 

“And if the portal opens in the middle of a battle? What then?” Cas asked. 

“It’s not like I’m going to go unarmed,” Sam rolled his eyes. “When it was Jack and Mom stuck over there, we didn’t worry about these things,” he said irritated. Even Dean realized how much they owed Gabriel now, and Cas just wanted to leave him there. 

“But we don’t even know if Gabriel is there,” Cas argued. 

“So we should walk away because of a maybe? We never knew if Mom and Jack were still alive over there either,” Sam snapped, out of patience. “I’m going, Cas. I don’t need your permission. You stay here and work on plan A, while I go find Gabriel.”

“At least take what you need to make another portal to get back. Just in case,” Jack suggested and Sam nodded. 

Cas sighed, realizing that he’d lost the argument. He really didn’t like this plan. If he knew for sure that Gabriel survived and was over there, it would be different, but he was sure that Gabriel really was dead this time and it was a waste of time and a lot of risk for nothing. Still, he took out the syringe to extract some of Michael’s grace. He would just remove all of it, but none of them were sure what would happen to Dean if they did, so he just took two vials worth. Enough for two portals. 

Sam ignored the scream of pain in his brother’s voice as the grace was extracted. He knew it wasn’t hurting Dean, but that didn’t make it much easier. He went to take them from Cas, but Cas kept his grip on them. “Be careful, Sam,” he said worriedly, and when Sam nodded, he let them go. 

“I’ll help you get the machine set up and show you how to work it before I go,” he offered and it was two hours later that Sam was ready to go. He had a whole arsenal of angel killing bullets and devil’s trap bullets, as well as a gun for each, two angel blades, the demon knife, a machette, flashlights, glowsticks, some MREs, bottled water, first aid kit, a couple changes of clothes, and the ingredients for the spell in case something happened and he needed a new portal from the other side. 

Sam once again reassured Cas and Jack that he would be careful and that he would be back before he opened the portal and stepped through. As soon as he was through he checked the area and found it deserted so he settled in to pray. “Hey Gabriel, it’s Sam. I’m sorry it took so long, but it took a while before we were able to get Michael under control to get his grace to come back. I don’t know if you’re still here or not, or if you really did die before, but if you can get to me, I can take us home. The portal will be open for the next twenty-four hours and I’ll wait as long as I can for you.”

When Gabriel didn’t show up right away, Sam’s heart fell. Maybe he really was dead. He shook that thought off. No. He couldn’t think like that. Gabriel was out there. He had to be. He refused to believe that he was dead. Gabriel was too smart, too quick, to clever, to let himself be caught out like that. He found a rock nearby and settled in to wait, in full view of the portal to make sure that nothing else made it through. He’d had to fight off a few random monsters and demons over the next twelve hours and he was really wishing that he had taken the time to take a nap before coming, but he had just been too eager to get here and find Gabriel. 

Sam somehow managed to stay awake for the full time, though just barely, and he was jolted out of almost nodding off when his watch alarm went off telling him that he had five minutes left before the portal died. He considered for a moment letting it die and going out to find Gabriel and not leaving until he’d found him, but he sighed as he realized he couldn’t do that. If he knew for sure that Gabriel was out there, he wouldn’t hesitate, but he didn’t know for sure. If Gabriel could have come he would have, and Sam still had a brother to save. He waited until the portal started sputtering and was about to go through when he heard his name being called and turned to see Gabriel running full speed towards him, with a whole squad of angels chasing him. 

Sam immediately turned away from the portal as it sputtered out and started running towards Gabriel, pulling his angel killing gun and picking off as many as he could without risking hitting Gabriel as he ran to meet them halfway. When he got there, they turned to fight back to back with angel blades. “Nice timing, Gabe,” Sam teased as he stabbed the nearest angel. 

“Like I’m gonna come running the second you call,” Gabriel joked despite the fact that that’s exactly what he’d done. 

Sam laughed, as they got into the battle. They were horribly outnumbered and there was a good chance that they were gonna end up in more trouble than they could afford, but Sam didn’t care. Gabriel was here. He was alive and at least reasonably well and that was all Sam could ask for at the moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Gabriel had just enough power left to keep them one step ahead of the attacking angels, but he would never have been able to hold out very long if not for Sam fighting by his side. He couldn’t spare a moment to worry about the portal closing and whether they would be able to make it back. He needed all his attention on the fight, but they finally managed to win and took a moment to catch their breath. “I really hope that portal wasn’t a one time thing,” he asked with a wince. 

Sam shook his head with a chuckle. “We planned for something going wrong. I have the ingredients to pull up another one. Unfortunately there’s no telling where in the world it will let out, but we’ll figure it out when we get there.” He finally had a chance to look Gabriel over and he looked like hell. Caked with blood and dirt and half his face was swollen, but he was here and Sam couldn’t help but reach out and crush the archangel in a hug. 

“Oof. Easy Sammich. I’m a little beat up here, you know,” he said with a grin as he returned the hug. 

Sam loosened his grip, but held on for another minute before he pulled back grinning. “I knew you didn’t die back there.”

“Of course not. You know better than that,” Gabriel said. 

“We should probably get back before any search parties come looking,” Sam suggested. 

Gabriel nodded, but had his own suggestion. “If there is no way to know where these portals will let out anyway, we should probably move on somewhere else to bring it up. There’s no telling if those angels called for reinforcements before they got offed.” Sam nodded and picked a random direction to walk, Gabriel following him. “Thanks by the way. I would have been a goner if not for you.” 

“Anytime, Gabe. We would have been goners if not for you before, so we’re even,” Sam told him. “I’m curious though…”

“Why didn’t I fly?” Gabriel guessed his question and Sam nodded. “Well you know I was running on empty when we got here, and the last eight months of running and fighting constantly have kept me at rock bottom. Soon as I got your prayer, I did fly as far as I could but I kinda petered out before I got here so I started running. Unfortunately, I was more concerned with making it here in time than I was about being careful so I got spotted, and you know the rest.” 

“Why are they after you anyway? I mean, with Michael gone, wouldn’t you be in charge or something?” Sam asked curiously. 

Gabriel shook his head. “Not here. These angels revere him just as much as they do our father. He IS god to them. I would just be an interloper. One that they are convinced did something to Michael, so they are hunting me either for revenge, or to find out what I did with him and try to rescue him or who knows what else they have in their heads.”

“That makes sense. I really am sorry it took so long to come back for you,” Sam said again. 

“Why did it?” Gabriel asked, trying to keep the accusation out of his voice. 

“Well, pretty much as soon as we got back before, Michael and Lucifer came through too. Then Lucifer stole Jack’s grace and got a major powerup, kidnapped me and Jack and just went nuts. He apparently hurt Michael pretty bad in the process and Dean thought the only way to save us was to say yes to Michael and get help killing Lucifer. They had a deal, but as soon as Lucifer was dead, Michael went back on the deal and took control back from Dean and disappeared.”

“And you just now found him?” Gabriel guessed. 

“Pretty much. He left Dean after a while and got a new vessel, but apparently left the ‘door cracked’ so he could get back into Dean and just now came back. We got him locked up, took the grace, and came back to get you.”

“So you came back because you need my help getting your brother back from Michael,” Gabriel said with a sigh. He should have known it would be something like that.

Sam stopped walking and grabbed Gabriel’s arm to stop him too. When Gabriel looked at him, Sam met his eyes and said, “No, Gabriel. I was always intending to come back the first chance I got. Cas is trying to get Dean back. I was just worried about you. Now, if Cas fails, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t welcome your help, but that’s not why I came back for you. Not at all,” Sam assured him. 

Gabriel felt a little bit of hope blossom in his heart at that. He couldn’t help but believe Sam. He could see the conviction in his eyes, and wondered if maybe…just maybe…his feelings wouldn’t be as unwelcome as he’d always thought. That was something to consider at another time though. “We’re probably far enough away that we can get away with a portal,” he said, unable to continue this conversation while lost in Sam’s eyes. 

Sam nodded and tore his gaze away from the archangel and started setting up for the spell. It didn’t take long before the portal was open and they quickly stepped through. Thankfully they were in a forest somewhere and not in the middle of a busy street. “Can you tell where we are?” Sam asked already pulling out his phone. 

Gabriel looked up at the stars and considered it for a minute. “Somewhere in Georgia best I can tell.”

Sam nodded and dialed Cas’ number. “Sam?” Cas answered with relief in his voice. 

“Yeah. It’s me. We’re back,” Sam told him. 

“We? Gabriel is with you?” Cas asked incredulously. 

“Yeah. We missed the first portal thanks to some pissy angels, but the second one dumped us out somewhere in Georgia. We’ll need to guard it until it dies to make sure nothing else comes through, and then we’ll start heading back to the bunker,” Sam promised. 

“You need to find somewhere to get some rest, Sam,” Gabriel interrupted. The hunter really looked like hell. 

Sam shook his head. “You’re in just as bad shape as I am. I’ll be fine for another day.” 

Cas heard the conversation and had another suggestion. “Do you not have any hunters in the area that could guard it for you?” 

Sam considered it. He didn’t really like trusting anyone else with this, but he couldn’t deny that Gabriel was right. He was almost dead on his feet. “I don’t know Cas. Check the map for me and see if anyone is nearby?” 

“I will do that now,” Cas told him. 

Sam took the opportunity during the break in that part of the conversation to ask about Dean. “How’s Dean? Were you able to find him and get him back?” 

“I was. Mostly. Michael is locked up in his mind, but we don’t know how long he’ll stay there. He’s still in the cuffs and wards right now, but I was getting ready to let him go soon assuming he is still managing to hold Michael off.” 

“Does he know…you know…where I went and stuff?” Sam asked worriedly. 

“He does. As soon as he was back, he asked where you were and I saw no need to lie to him. There are two hunters nearby, Buck and Josh.” 

“I’ll give them a call and ask them to head this way then. Was Dean pissed?” 

“He was…unhappy…that you went alone and wanted to go after you, but I felt that the risk was too great to let him go until we were sure that he had Michael completely under control.”

“Okay. Thanks, Cas. I’ll see what we can do about getting someone else here to guard the rift, then find someplace to crash before we start heading back.”

“I will let your brother know you’ve returned. I am sure he will be calling you himself soon.”


	3. Chapter 3

Sam hung up and immediately called Buck. He knew that he and Josh worked as a team and they quickly agreed to head that way. By the time he was off the phone, both he and Gabriel were swaying on their feet, so he helped Gabriel to sit down against a tree and took the next tree to himself. No sooner than he was settled his phone rang again. “Hey Dean,” he said, not even needing to look at the caller ID. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Same to you, Sammy. What the hell were you thinking going off to apocalypse world alone?” 

“Once we had Michael in a position where we could get his grace, I had to go back for Gabriel. I couldn’t just leave him there,” Sam argued. 

“No, I get that. It needed to be done. I’m just saying you should have taken backup.”

“Well the plan was just to go through, pray to Gabriel, and come right back. There wasn’t much point in dragging someone else back from the big monster fight for what should have only been a five minute mission.”

“When do things ever go according to plan? It was reckless.” 

“I know Dean. But I just couldn’t leave him there any longer than we already had,” Sam told him. 

“Yeah. I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. Cas said you got him though? How is he? And how are you for that matter?” 

“I’m good. Little beat up, but nothing major. He’s pretty beat up too and still doesn’t have any juice, but we’re okay.”

“Good. I’ll see you when you get back. Take care of yourself Sam…and him,” he added almost as an afterthought. Not because he didn’t care about Gabriel, but because the idea of asking a human to take care of an archangel seemed rather ridiculous, but if Gabe was out of juice, he might need it. 

“I will, Dean. See you soon,” he told his brother before he hung up. 

“He was actually worried about me?” Gabriel scoffed. 

“Yeah. He was. When we got back the last time, he was the first one to say how much we owed you. If our positions had been reversed he would have come after you just as quickly as I did,” Sam told him. That wasn’t entirely true, but it was true enough. Dean would have been more concerned with getting Sam back first, then going after Gabriel, but that distinction wasn’t important and would be too much of a hint to the archangel that he meant more to Sam than he did to Dean. The last thing he needed right now was Gabriel figuring out how much he loved him. 

Gabriel just looked at Sam gob smacked before he just shook his head. He didn’t have anything to say to that, really, so he sat in silence and just watched the portal as best he could while trying not to nod off, especially when he heard the snoring coming from next to him. 

It was about an hour before they heard someone coming through the woods and he jumped to his feet and turned to wake Sam before realizing that he didn’t need to, Sam was already on his feet with gun in hand too. He followed Sam’s lead and lowered his blade when Sam lowered his gun as the people came into view. “Hey guys. Glad you could make it,” Sam said in relief. 

“No problem. Just kill anything that comes through, right?” Buck asked. 

“Yep. That’s it. It’ll close up in about…” Sam checked his watch, “twenty two and a half hours give or take.” 

“Sounds good. We got it from here. You can take off,” Josh told him. 

“Town is about a twenty minute walk that way,” Buck said pointing back the way they came. “You gonna be able to make it?” he looked them over skeptically. 

“Yeah. We’ll be fine guys. Thanks,” Sam told him and grabbed his bag. “C’mon Gabe. Let’s go get some sleep.” 

Gabriel nodded gratefully and followed Sam. “So Deano has Mikey locked up in his mind now?” Gabriel asked, desperate for any conversation to keep him awake during the walk. 

“Apparently. You got any ideas to help get him out without letting him free in the world?” Sam asked. 

“You still have the archangel blade around?” Gabriel asked. 

“Unfortunately not. Michael apparently ditched it somewhere, or maybe even destroyed it if that’s possible,” Sam said with a shrug. “But wouldn’t that kill Dean too anyway?” 

Gabriel shook his head. “Not if I was careful. It would probably hurt like a bitch and there would be a bit of recovery time, but he would be fine eventually.”

Sam nodded. He had forgotten about Nick in his exhaustion. He had survived when Lucifer was killed so obviously it could be done. “Maybe Dean has some idea what Michael did with the blade.” 

“Maybe. Once I’ve got a little juice back I might be able to find it in his head too, but I’d rather not if it could be avoided. I wouldn’t want to accidentally let Mikey out.”

Sam winced at the idea. “Yeah, let’s avoid that if at all possible.”

“It might be possible to force him into another vessel, but then we would have the whole him out and about in the world,” Gabriel said brainstorming other ideas. 

“I know Crowley forced Lucifer back into Nick’s vessel once. If we could figure out how he did it…then we could have the other vessel already restrained…”

“But that would mean sacrificing another person,” Gabriel pointed out. 

“Yeah. I know,” Sam sighed. 

“There’s really not going to be a good answer here, Sam,” Gabriel told him. 

“I know,” Sam said again. “Why are you so willing to help all of a sudden? Usually you say no and we have to talk you around.”

“Usually you tell me your plan and demand that I go along with it no matter how stupid and suicidal it is. You’ve never asked for my input before,” Gabriel pointed out. 

Sam considered their previous interactions and realized that Gabriel was right. And when they had let him put in his own ideas when capturing Lucifer to get to apocalypse world before it had gone much easier than they could have ever anticipated. “You’re right, Gabe. I’m sorry. I’ll do my best to listen to your ideas from now on…anytime you’re willing to help of course,” he added quickly, wanting to make sure it was understood that he wasn’t demanding that Gabriel help them. 

“Thanks Sammykins,” Gabriel said with a smile as they hit the edge of town. 

Sam stopped to ask someone for directions to the nearest motel and they were walking into the lobby ten minutes later. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any doubles available, so they were stuck with a single. “I’m so tired, I don’t care where I sleep, so I’m good sharing the bed if you are,” Sam said with a shrug trying to seem non-chalant about it.

Gabriel shrugged too. “Whatever works. Long as you’re not a kicker,” he joked. 

Sam chuckled and paid for the single room. When they got inside, Gabriel said, “I’m gonna hit the shower before I pass out. Don’t suppose you have anything I can borrow to sleep in until I can get myself some clothes later?” 

Sam reached into his bag and pulled out his change of clothes. “Most of this is probably gonna be too big on you, but you should be able to manage with these,” Sam told him tossing him his boxers. 

“That’ll work. I’ll just have to send you out to grab me something else to wear when we wake up,” Gabriel teased as he made for the shower. By the time he got out and felt clean for the first time in eight months, Sam was already snoring, Gabriel eased himself into bed, trying not to wake the hunter up, but failing. “Sorry, Samsquatch. Go back to sleep,” Gabriel said as he laid down. Sam just grunted and did as he was told and Gabriel was out as soon as his head hit the pillow too. Neither of them noticed when Sam moved over to pull Gabriel into his arms in his sleep or when Gabriel wrapped himself around Sam as they both settled into the best sleep they’d had in years.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam woke first about nine hours later and when he realized the position he and Gabriel were in he blushed brightly. As tangled up as they were there was no chance of untangling himself without waking up the archangel though so he decided the best thing to do would be to pretend to be asleep and just enjoy it while he could.

It was about half an hour later when Gabriel started to stir and the first thing he noticed was how warm and comfortable he was. Then he noticed that his pillow was breathing and realized that he was sleeping on Sam. It took him all of five seconds to realize that Sam was only pretending to be asleep and Gabriel felt that little spark of hope in his heart grow. Sam could have recoiled away from him the second he woke up, but he didn’t. Gabriel made a show of waking up and stretching so that he would ‘wake’ Sam up. He chuckled at the hunter and without any move to get away quipped, “Looks like someone is a secret snuggle bunny.”

Sam blushed bright red and pulled himself away from Gabriel as he got out of bed. “You mean like you?” he tried to retort playfully, but it just came out sounding strained. 

“Hey, I never made a secret of it,” Gabriel chuckled. 

“Well I didn’t know,” Sam pointed out. 

“You never bothered to find out,” Gabriel teased as he pulled himself out of bed too. 

“Would you have wanted me to?” Sam asked, managing the playful tone a little better this time despite the way his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest. 

Gabriel knew what Sam was asking and wasn’t about to go there. Not now. Not while Sam needed something from him and might give him what he wanted just to get that help. He wanted to think that Sam wouldn’t do that, but wanting to think that wasn’t nearly enough for him to risk his heart on it, so he answered the question without answering the question. “Like I said, it was never a secret.”

“I meant…um…I just…” Sam stammered, still wanting an answer to his question, but not sure how to get one. 

Gabriel gave it another minute to see if Sam would get himself together to really ask, part hoping he would and part dreading it, before he changed the subject. “So I figure if you want to grab a shower and then go grab me some clothes at that little store next door, I’ll see about getting us a rental car in say, an hour?”

“My license and credit cards won’t hold up under the kind of scrutiny to get a rental car,” Sam pointed out. 

“S’okay. Mine will. Of course, you’ll still have to do the driving since I don’t know how and never saw the sense in learning, but we can use my license and cards to get it.”

“Okay. That works then,” Sam told him, making his way to the shower. He should have done this last night but he was too exhausted and he wasn’t nearly as dirty and bloody as Gabriel, but he was definitely glad to be getting one now. 

Sam had been in the shower for about three minutes when his phone rang. Normally, Gabriel wouldn’t have answered it, but since the caller ID said it was Dean, he figured it wouldn’t hurt. “Deano!” Gabriel said cheerfully as he answered. 

“Gabriel,” Dean said surprised. “Welcome back. Where’s Sam.” 

“In the shower. We just woke up and were gonna hit the road shortly,” Gabriel told him. 

“You’re answering his phone?” Dean asked not sure how he felt about that. 

“I wasn’t going to, but I saw it was you and figured you’d probably worry if no one answered and just wanted an update on when we would be back anyway. I can have him give you a call back when he gets out of the shower though,” Gabriel explained. 

“Nah. It’s good. Like you said. Just wanted an update,” Dean told him. “Guessing you don’t have the juice to fly either then.” 

“Unfortunately not,” Gabriel grumbled. 

“That sucks. Well I’ll see you guys when you get here,” Dean said as he hung up.

When Sam got out of the shower he changed into his clean clothes, minus the boxers that Gabriel was wearing and headed out to get him some clothes. By this time, Gabriel was on the phone to the rental car company and put his hand over the speaker to say, “medium T-shirts, 34-38 jeans and size 11 sneakers please,” Sam nodded and headed out the door. It was only about five minutes after Sam left when he finished and they would be there to pick them up in 30 minutes. 

Sam was back with about twenty minutes to spare until they were picked up, and handed Gabriel his clothes to put on, and the archangel got dressed while Sam packed up the little bit he had pulled out. After about twenty minutes signing the papers and all for the rental car, they were on the road. “Dean called while you were in the shower. I updated him on our schedule and all, but I figured after everything he’d probably get worried if he didn’t get an answer.”

“It’s good Gabe. I don’t mind you answering my phone when it’s Dean. Or Cas or Jack for that matter,” Sam assured him, picking up the slight nerves in Gabriel’s voice. “I want to call Buck first before we head that way, just to make sure they don’t need any help,” he told him and then did just that. They didn’t need any help. There had been a few monsters that stumbled through, but nothing organized and they assured Sam that they had it covered if something organized did come through. The glee in their voices at that would have made Sam shudder if they weren’t talking about monsters, demons, and evil angels. He knew how much those guys loved their explosives and loaded angel killing shrapnel in them so they would be good. 

When they were about an hour out from Lebanon, Sam called Dean to have him pick them up at the rental car company so they could return the car. Dean immediately pulled Sam into a hug and the surprised the crap out of Gabriel by giving him the same treatment. He then proceeded to rib Sam all the way home about going ‘legit’ and renting a car. 

Once they got back to the bunker, Cas was the first to greet them and Gabriel found himself being pulled into yet another hug. “I apologize for not wanting Sam to go after you, brother. I did not think you could have survived.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “I didn’t actually tell him that, Cas.” 

Gabriel pushed the hurt from that statement away and contented himself with a snarky, “Looks like Sam knows me better than you do then, ‘brother’.” He did return Cas’ hug though. He didn’t want to really throw a guilt trip on the seraph. 

Jack then stepped into the room hesitantly. “Hello Uncle G-…umm…Gabriel.” The only interaction he’d had with Gabriel had been with his father around which seemed to have put the archangel in a bad mood, so he wasn’t sure how his uncle really felt about him. 

“You can call me Uncle Gabe, kiddo. That’s fine,” Gabriel said cheerfully. Now that he knew that Jack had rejected his father, he was a lot more comfortable with the kid. “So now that we are all caught up and all, how you doing with Michael?” he asked Dean as he scrutinized him as though he could tell how Dean was faring with a look. 

“I’m keeping him under control for now. Not sure how long I’ll be able to hold him though, so if you have any ideas…” Dean admitted. 

“I have a few, but none easy or that will be quick to pull off. Just let someone know if he gets too much for you so we can get you locked down before he busts out yeah?” Gabriel suggested. 

Dean nodded, grateful that Gabriel both seemed willing to help and wasn’t advocating keeping him locked down anyway. “What kind of ideas?” 

“So far just finding out where Mikey stashed the archangel blade and killing him, or forcing him into a new vessel and keeping him locked up somewhere. But that was all thought up on pure exhaustion. I might think of something better once I have some time to consider it,” Gabriel told him. 

“Well I have one idea…” Dean said hesitantly. “Kind of a last resort kind of thing.” When Gabriel raised an eyebrow in question, Dean explained, “I got instructions on how to build a Malik box…”

“What’s a Malik box?” Sam asked curiously. 

At the same time as Sam’s question, Gabriel exploded. “Are you out of your ever loving mind?!?!”


	5. Chapter 5

“What’s a Malik box?” Sam asked again, a little more forcefully this time. 

“Think of it like a vacuum sealed room, but spiritually instead of physically. Once that box is locked, nothing and no one can ever get in or out. It can never be opened again, no spells can affect it, even an archangel couldn’t break through,” Gabriel told him heatedly. “Moron here wants to lock himself in an unbreakable coffin for the rest of eternity.” 

“What?!” Sam snapped, not noticing the look of horror on Jack’s face or the look of constipation on Cas’. “Are you insane?” 

“I said as a last resort,” Dean defended himself weakly. 

“No, a last resort is keeping you locked up in the dungeons here in the angel cuffs and full angelproofing,” Gabriel told him. “There is a reason that all references to Malik boxes have been wiped from history. How did you even find out about them?”

“Billie…”

“Billie? As in Death? Let me guess, she told you it was the only way?” Sam scoffed. 

Gabriel laughed harshly. “So you’re willing to take advice from the one being who holds a grudge against all Winchesters?” 

“She said she understood us now. That being in the big chair made her able to see the big picture,” Dean told him. 

“She understands, sure. That doesn’t mean she likes you now. That doesn’t mean she won’t take an opportunity for revenge if it presents itself,” Gabriel pointed out. 

“How did you know she had a grudge against us?” Sam asked curiously. 

“I…well…it’s not important,” Gabriel stammered for a moment before trying to cover it up. He wasn’t going to tell Sam how many times he intervened to reign in her grudge before the apocalypse back when she was just an uppity little reaper. 

“Uh-huh,” Dean said skeptically, looking before his brother and the archangel before trying to change the subject. “So finding the archangel blade huh? Any ideas where to look?” 

“I was hoping you might be able to help with that one Deano,” Gabriel told him, only a slight narrowing of the eyes telling Dean that this conversation wasn’t over yet. 

“I don’t remember much about when Michael was in control. It’s all kind of a muffled blur,” Dean said apologetically. 

“Anything you can remember might give us a clue. Even just where you were. I should be able to sense it if I get close enough. It will have to wait a week or two until I have the juice to fly again though, so why don’t you just think of what you can and have me a list ready by then.”

“We may be able to add to that list as well brother. We were tracking every sign we could find of him during that time,” Cas chimed in. 

“And I could try healing you and see if I can kickstart your grace, Uncle Gabe,” Jack offered. 

Gabriel turned to look at Jack confused. “I thought your grace was stolen?” He didn’t have enough of his own grace back yet to tell or he wouldn’t have had to ask.

“It was but I got it back. Or got more anyway. Something,” Jack told him. 

“No Jack. You know every time you use this new grace it burns off a piece of your soul,” Cas said firmly. 

“But if it can help Dean and Uncle Gabe…”

“You didn’t,” Gabriel’s eyes widened as he looked at Cas. 

“I had no choice brother,” Cas told him. “Jack was dying. Without his grace, his body was shutting down.” 

“Then you should have let him die. There is a reason Enochian magic is forbidden,” Gabriel snapped. “Why do you morons always have to dig up forgotten and dangerous crap?” 

“Is there anything you can do to help him too, Gabe?” Sam asked hopefully. 

“No. I can’t. And I wouldn’t even if I could. No offense kid,” Gabriel said with a wry smile. “Enochian magic is poison. If that grace he has was created by Enochian magic then it is a time bomb waiting to go off. I even touch it, I could be the one to set it off.” He turned back to Cas. “How can you even consider using that kind of magic? I can’t believe you haven’t destroyed yourself and everyone else with it yet.” 

“I don’t use that magic, brother. I would never. I just know a human who does,” Cas told him. 

“Heaven’s highest mandate is to destroy any incidence of Enochian magic in the world, and you go seeking it out to use it?!” Gabriel was beyond pissed at the moment. 

“Heaven kind of has bigger things to worry about at the moment, like keeping the lights on. It’s a good thing I brought him back too. When he died as a human he went to heaven, but The Empty had already laid claim on him and invaded heaven to get him. It would have all been destroyed if he had stayed there.” 

“The Empty? How the hell is it even awake again? It should have slept for eternity…you know what? Never mind. I don’t want to know. I have a headache. I think I just need to lie down,” Gabriel turned and walked out of the room, pinching the bridge of his nose, and headed towards the room he used the last time he was here. 

“Can archangels even get headaches?” Dean whispered to the group. 

“Apparently so,” Sam said sympathetically. 

“If his grace is low enough, probably,” Cas added. 

Jack just looked down and headed for his own room. All of this was his fault. He woke The Empty. He’s the one who wanted to get to know his father and let his guard down. He’s the one who died allowing heaven to be invaded, and Castiel to use the forbidden magic to bring him back. He really shouldn’t exist. 

Sam sighed and shook his head. “I’ll get Gabe, Cas you get Jack, and Dean…want to go grab us some food?” Everyone nodded and headed out to do their jobs, but Sam called back to Dean, “Don’t forget sweets for Gabriel.” 

Cas knocked on Jack’s door, and went in anyway when he heard the, “go away,” come from inside. 

“This isn’t your fault Jack. None of it is,” Cas told him. 

“Of course it is. None of this would have happened if I never existed,” Jack told him. 

“It’s not your fault that you exist either, Jack. The only one who can be blamed for that is Lucifer,” Cas told him, honestly unable to refute his statement. “All any of us can do is the best with what we have. That’s something that Sam and Dean taught me. It was hard for me too. It’s hard for everyone, but we can’t blame ourselves for things outside our control.”

“Uncle Gabe said I should have stayed dead,” Jack said sadly. 

“He didn’t mean it like that, Jack,” Cas told him, putting an arm around the nephilim’s shoulders. “He just meant that the magic we used shouldn’t have been used. I promise you that he doesn’t actually want you dead.”

“Seemed like it,” Jack sniffled. 

“No, it didn’t. I can see why you would think that, but he would never have allowed you to call him Uncle Gabe if he didn’t want you around. I may not understand much about my brother, but I know what family means to him. He accepted you as family and would not turn his back on you. He just meant that we should have found another way and can’t see yet that there wasn’t one.”

“It’s still my fault,” Jack said, unable to accept anything but all of the blame. 

“Jack, listen to me. Did you intend to wake The Empty?” Cas asked. When Jack shook his head, he continued. “Did you intend for your father to steal your grace?” 

“I let him in. I wanted to get to know him. I wanted to…to understand him. He wouldn’t have been able to get close enough if I hadn’t…” 

“Oh, Jack. He has tricked everyone at one point or another. Even me. I let him take me for a vessel, so has Sam, Dean has worked with him before. His greatest talent is deception. You can’t blame yourself for falling for it.” 

“You tried to warn me. You all did. I didn’t listen.” 

“And we all had plenty of warning too before he tricked us. That doesn’t change the fact that it was not your fault. You didn’t cause it. He did,” Cas told him and he saw that he wasn’t going to get any further right now. What Jack really needed was a heart to heart with his uncle and Cas was going to make sure that it happened, one way or another. “Just think about it, Jack, okay?” When Jack nodded, Cas left the room and let out a heavy sigh as he headed for the living room to wait for the others to get back.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam knocked on Gabriel’s door. “C’mon in Sammy,” he heard weakly from the other side. 

When Sam walked in he saw Gabriel laying on the bed, knees bent, and still pinching the bridge of his nose. “You need anything?” 

“A lobotomy,” Gabriel muttered. 

Sam chuckled. “I was thinking something like a cold cloth for your head. Lobotomies are somewhat outside my skillset.” 

“I’m fine, Sam. Just need a bit to clear my head,” Gabriel told him. 

“Do you need me to go, or do you feel up to clarifying some things for me?” Sam asked, perfectly willing to leave if Gabriel told him to. 

“Ask away. Just as long as you don’t throw anymore crap at me right now,” Gabriel warned. 

“I won’t. And I’m sorry for all this Gabe. Really. You don’t need to get involved in all this mess if you don’t want to, you know.” 

“Yeah. I do. Because the state things are now, all of existence is unravelling and I’m probably the only being that has a chance of fixing it. How doomed is the world when I’m it’s only hope,” he said in self-contempt. 

“I don’t know about that. I would gladly put the fate of the world in your hands any day,” Sam told him with an encouraging smile. 

Gabriel snorted. “Then you’re an idiot.” 

Sam let that drop and decided to ask what he needed to know. “What’s the big deal about Enochian magic? I mean I get that it eats your soul and all, but the way you were talking it seemed like there was more to it than that.” 

“To truly understand, you have to understand the history of Enochian magic. When father first created humans…created souls, they were the purest thing you could imagine, but Lucifer was jealous. He set out to try and twist those souls and he created a form of magic that could mimic the powers of angels and then some, by using our own essence and destroying the very souls my father so loved. Not just the souls of the ones who used it either. That would be bad enough, but it destroyed the souls of everyone it touched. The magic was powerful enough to tempt even the most righteous man, as you have seen here. When people like you and Dean and Cas justify it’s use, how is anyone supposed to resist?” 

“So people used to use it all the time?” Sam asked. 

“Oh yes. Until almost the entire world was corrupted and twisted. It spread like wildfire. That’s why father locked Lucifer away. That’s why he flooded the entire world. There were very few people left who were untouched by this evil. Noah lived, as you would say, ‘off the grid’. He was a little off his rocker too if you ask me. Ruled his family with a hand of iron. But they were untouched by this magic and knew none of it. Oh they knew of it’s existence, but nothing else, so they were allowed to live and repopulate the world. A world without that taint. One of the highest mandates of the angels after that was to eliminate any knowledge of Enochian magic that found its way into the world. All knowledge relating to it, anyone who used it, and anyone who was touched by it, lest it spread enough to destroy the world again.”

“So the fact that Cas allowed it to be used…”

“Is a betrayal of heaven, of our father, of humans, of everything,” Gabriel told him. 

“Even if it saved heaven?” Sam asked. 

“I…I don’t know. That’s just a whole different can of worms,” Gabriel said pinching his nose again.

“Sorry. That would fall under the category of more crap. Never mind,” Sam said with an apologetic smile. “So…does that mean you will have to ‘eliminate’ all of us?” he asked worriedly. 

Gabriel sighed heavily. “I should. If I had any loyalty left to anyone, I would,” he said, leaving out that his only loyalty nowadays lied with the Winchesters. “But I won’t.” 

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. If it helps, I swear that none of us will every even consider that magic ever again, no matter the consequences if we don’t.” 

“That does help, Sam. Thank you.” Gabriel knew that Sam couldn’t actually make that promise for all of them, but that he would do his best to see to it, and Sam Winchester’s best was usually good enough. 

“Is there anything we can do for Jack? For his soul?” Sam asked. 

“Maybe,” Gabriel told him. That had really been what he came in here to think over most urgently anyway. “It depends on how far gone his soul is currently, but you won’t like it.” 

“What would we have to do?” Sam asked. 

“He would have to extract his tainted grace and give it up forever,” Gabriel told him. 

“But his body would start to shut down again without his grace,” Sam pointed out. 

“I could probably heal that. It’s just a simple rewrite of his base DNA to allow him to live without grace. It wouldn’t be pleasant, and I wouldn’t be able to do that until I’m a little closer to normal, but it could be done.” 

“But then he’ll be human and he’ll die as a human eventually, which will cause The Empty to invade heaven to get to him again,” Sam told him. 

“And that’s the rub. I would have to get that whole situation under control again, get The Empty back to sleep, and rebuild heaven, before he died. That or hand him over to The Empty without a fight.”

“Can you do that? Rebuild heaven, get everything under control, and get The Empty back to sleep I mean?” Sam asked. 

“I don’t have the slightest idea, Sam,” Gabriel said wearily. “But I have no choice but to try.” 

Sam reached over and took Gabriel’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “If anyone can do it, Gabe, then you can.” Gabriel snorted derisively again and just looked away. “You may not believe in yourself, Gabriel, but I do believe in you,” Sam said as he turned to walk out, realizing that Gabriel really did need to be alone now. 

As the door shut behind Sam, Gabriel whispered into the darkness, “I hope I don’t let you down, Sam. But I know I will. At least I know I won’t survive to see it if I do.” He rolled over and closed his eyes, a single tear leaking from them as he fell asleep. 

When Sam got back to the living room, he saw Cas sitting there looking lost. “You didn’t have any luck either huh?” 

“Jack thinks this whole thing is his fault and that Gabriel wants him dead,” Cas said sadly. 

Sam shook his head. “He doesn’t. He has a plan to save Jack as long as he’s not too far gone, but he can’t do anything until he gets a lot more of his power back. Did you know the history of the Enochian magic and why it’s so forbidden?” Sam asked. 

Cas shook his head. “No. I know it’s forbidden, but I don’t know why other than the obvious.” Sam told Cas the story that Gabriel had told him and Cas hung his head. “I didn’t know.” 

“I know, Cas. But now that you do, what are you going to do?” Sam asked pointedly. 

“I need to go out for a while,” Cas said as he got up and headed for the door, missing Sam’s smile. He knew, or at least hoped, that Cas was going to do what he should have done before and kill Sergei and destroy all of his knowledge of Enochian magic. Normally, Sam wouldn’t be happy about the cold-blooded murder of another human being, but given the circumstances…there was no other way it could be. 

Dean got back with the food about ten minutes after Cas left, and Sam updated him on what he knew. “I think I can empathize with the pixie. I’m getting a headache now too,” Dean said as he finished his food. “I think we should all hit the hay and come at this fresh tomorrow. 

“I think that would be best,” Sam said, but took a few minutes to arrange the pies and cakes Dean bought and put all the candy into one of the large empty drawers and put a sticky note on the drawer that said ‘Gabriel’s candy’, so the archangel would be able to find it.


	7. Chapter 7

Neither Gabriel nor Jack left their room until lunchtime the next day, when Gabriel finally emerged. “There’s some pies and cakes on the counter and I got you a bunch of candy in a drawer in there,” Dean told him as he came through the living room. Gabriel gave him a grateful nod as he continued to the kitchen and came back a few minutes later with an entire cake. Dean looked at him skeptically, thinking he couldn’t eat the entire cake, but Sam just snorted a laugh. 

“How are you feeling today, Gabe?” Sam asked. 

“S’all good, Sammykins. Head’s on straight again,” Gabriel told him. 

Sam rolled his eyes. He could see that Gabriel wasn’t nearly as alright as he was pretending to be. He just had his masks fully in place again, but he didn’t say anything since it seemed like Cas and Dean were fooled. He would keep a close eye on Gabriel though so that he could be there if he was needed. It was the least he could do for the archangel they owed everything to. 

Cas took the opportunity to raise his own subject with Gabriel. “I think you need to talk to Jack. Soon.” 

“Why?” Gabriel asked confused. It wasn’t like he was going to any effort to avoid the kid and did want to get to know him anyway. 

“Well you did basically tell him last night that he should have stayed dead. He thinks you meant it,” Cas said bluntly. 

Gabriel’s mouth fell open so fast that half chewed cake fell out. He quickly closed it and finished swallowing his cake. “I didn’t mean…how could he think…” Gabriel stammered. 

“One thing you need to understand about Jack is that he is a very sensitive kid. He takes everything personally and takes all the guilt and troubles of the world onto his shoulders. His father’s betrayal hit him hard, and now he thinks that the closest family he has left hates him.”

“I do hope you told him otherwise,” Gabriel said. 

“I did, but I don’t think he believed me. I tried again to talk to him while everyone was sleeping last night, but he won’t talk at all now and refuses to leave his room. I think he will only believe it if he hears it from you,” Cas told him. 

“Right,” Gabriel said decisively as he stood up and placed the cake down. “I’ll be back for you later,” he said lovingly to the cake before turning to everyone else. “Where’s his room?” 

“I’ll show you,” Sam said amusedly and led Gabriel there before leaving him alone. 

Gabriel knocked on the door and heard a quiet ‘go away’ from the other side. “Can I please come in?” Gabriel asked, knowing that if it was as Cas said, then he was the only person that Jack might possibly let in right now. He realized he was right when the door creaked open and Jack peeked out with red rimmed eyes. 

“Why?” Jack asked worriedly. 

“Because we need to talk, and I would really like a chance to get to know my nephew sooner or later,” Gabriel said with a smile, trying to let him know that he wasn’t there to smite him or anything. 

Jack sighed and opened the door the rest of the way letting Gabriel in, and returning to his spot on the bed, hugging his knees to his chest. “Why bother?” Jack asked sadly. “I should have stayed dead anyway.”

Gabriel sighed heavily and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Jack. “That is not even remotely what I meant, kiddo. All I meant is that the magic that was used to bring you back is extremely bad and there is no justification whatsoever for using it. I don’t want you dead at all.”

“But I’m a Nephilim and Nephilim are forbidden,” Jack pointed out. 

“Yeah. They are. And for good reason. But there is no reason to blame an innocent child for the actions of their parents. While I agree that Nephilim should be forbidden, to kill a child for being one is not something I would ever agree with.”

“But you agree that I shouldn’t exist.” 

“No. You shouldn’t exist,” Gabriel refused to lie to him. “But you do. Just because you shouldn’t be here doesn’t mean you can’t be a gift to the world. It doesn’t mean that you have nothing to offer. There are plenty of children in the world that shouldn’t exist, whether because they are the product of rape, or have parents who could never have hoped to take care of them, or any of a dozen reasons, but that doesn’t mean that they should be killed. Every life, even yours, is a gift to the world, if you choose to let it be. You get what I’m saying?” 

“But now I’m losing my soul. How can I do anything good without a soul?” Jack asked worriedly. 

“I have a way we might be able to fix that. You just have to give me some time to get my power back up where it needs to be. Which means you have to do everything possible to limit the damage to your soul. No using your grace, for anything. If you do too much damage, then even I can’t save you. Can you do that for me?” 

Jack looked at Gabriel with wide hopeful eyes. “You want to save me?” 

“You’re family kid. I will do everything in my power to save you and protect you,” Gabriel said as though it should be obvious only to find himself with an armful of crying teenager. He was startled for a second at the sudden change of moods, but then wrapped his arms around Jack and rubbed his back soothingly. Once Jack had himself back under control again he pulled away looking slightly embarrassed, but Gabriel just ruffled his hair and gave him an accepting smile. 

“What if you can’t save me? If you can’t fix me?” Jack asked. 

“You should know something about me, Jack. Once I set my mind on something, I rarely fail,” Gabriel assured him, hoping that he would drop it. 

“But what if you can’t?” Jack asked again. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

Gabriel sighed. It seemed that he wasn’t going to get out of answering this question. Hopefully it would never come up. He reached out and put a hand on Jack’s shoulder and looked him in the eye seriously. “I will move heaven and earth to save you, Jack, but if I can’t…If I can’t, I’ll make it fast and painless. I swear.” 

Jack breathed a sigh of relief and hugged Gabriel again, a little more in control this time. “Thanks, Uncle Gabe,” he whispered. 

Gabriel put a hand on the back of Jack’s head and ran his fingers through his hair. “You can thank me by not doing any more damage so I don’t have to fail,” he said seriously and felt Jack nod against his shoulder. He gave Jack another good squeeze before letting go. “Now, what say you come out of your room and socialize a bit hmm?” 

Jack smiled and wiped his eyes. “Okay. I’m just gonna…go clean up first,” Jack told him and Gabriel nodded and headed back to the living room and his cake. 

He plopped back down in the chair he vacated and picked up the cake as he told everyone, “He’ll be out in a bit.” 

“Is he okay?” Cas asked worriedly. 

“He will be. Even more so if we can get him fixed,” Gabriel told him. 

“You can fix him? I thought you couldn’t touch his grace in this state?” Cas asked. 

“I can’t. He will have to give up his grace, then I can fix his body so that it can survive as a human. It’s the only way, but it will have to wait until I’m back up to snuff. He’s promised not to use his powers no matter what so that no more damage will be done, and hopefully that will be enough,” Gabriel told him. 

“And what if it’s not enough?” Dean asked. 

Gabriel had given the kid an answer because he needed to hear it, but he was not about to give the hunters the same one. “I’ll find a way to make sure it is,” Gabriel said with a note of finality and thankfully they dropped it, though the look Sam was giving him made him wonder.


	8. Chapter 8

At dinner that night, they managed to all eat as a family, including Gabriel. Dean and Gabriel did up burgers and fries, and Gabriel proceeded to gross them all out. As they were sitting there making their burgers, Gabriel suddenly felt all eyes on him as he squeezed out the chocolate syrup onto the top of his burger. “What?” Gabriel asked defensively before adding the whipped cream and sprinkles.

Sam was torn between laughter and disgust. “You do know that is a burger not a sundae, right?” 

Gabriel grinned. “Now it’s a burger sundae,” he said cheerfully as he drizzled caramel sauce on top and used his fork to take a bite. 

“I have never seen anyone eat anything like that,” Jack said looking curiously at Gabriel’s dinner. 

“That’s because the rest of us are civilized,” Dean quipped. 

“Want to try a bite?” Gabriel offered Jack who nodded and reached his fork for it as Gabriel slid it closer. 

Jack took a big bite and immediately started gagging, grabbing his glass of milk and downed the whole thing just to get the taste out of his mouth. “I think…that I will stick with ketchup and pickles,” he said hoarsely as the rest of the table laughed. 

“You’re all a bunch of heathens,” Gabriel laughed with them as he continued eating his burger sundae. 

“Hey, you’re the closest thing to a pagan at this table, pixie,” Dean joked and Gabriel just stuck his tongue out at the hunter. 

Overall, as long as they didn’t pay too much attention to what Gabriel was eating it was a pleasant dinner in which they all managed to forget their problems for a little while and just enjoy the company. No sooner than they finished eating, Gabriel asked, “dessert time?” 

Sam laughed. “Gabe, I think everything you ate counted as dessert.”

“Nonsense,” Gabriel countered. “There were meat and potatoes in it, thus it cannot be considered dessert.” 

Dean just shook his head. “Pie or cake?” he asked, not wanting to get involved in that particular debate and deciding that feeding the beast was preferable to arguing with it. 

“Cake,” Gabriel said at the same time that Jack said, “Pie.”

Dean shrugged. “Both it is,” he said grabbing one of each off the counter and putting the on the table. He proceeded to cut the pie while Gabriel cut the cake. Naturally Gabriel cut himself the biggest piece, and snagged a piece of the pie too. 

Once they finished eating they all went off to do their respective things, but Sam followed Cas to the library. “Hey Cas. I have a question.” 

“What is it, Sam?” Cas asked tilting his head to the side. 

“Is it possible to extract Michael’s grace while Dean is in control?”

“Perhaps. We would have to go much deeper though and it would be immensely painful for Dean. Why do you ask?” 

“Just an idea I had to help Gabriel is all. I wanted to know if it would be possible before I mentioned it to him.”

“You want to go back to apocalypse world again?” Cas asked confused. “Why?”

“Well, Lucifer was able to power up with the grace of the angels he killed, and I thought maybe Gabriel could do the same,” Sam said with a shrug. I can’t ask Dean to go through that kind of pain though.

“There is no need to extract the grace now, if that’s something you wish to do. Once you left last time, it dawned on me that we may need to go and get you, so I drew some extra before I went into Dean’s mind and put it in ingredient storage in case it was needed,” Cas told him. 

“Really? That’s great Cas,” Sam said with a grin before turning and heading for Gabriel’s room and knocking on the door. 

“C’mon in Sammykins,” Gabriel called out, as he marked his place in his book with his finger. 

Sam opened the door and stopped short at the sight that met him in the doorway as Gabriel was half sitting in bed, shirtless, with a pair of thick black glasses on his face. “What…” he asked confused. 

Gabriel suddenly realized that he was wearing the glasses and pulled them off with an embarrassed shrug. “As an archangel, I have perfect eyesight of course, but when my grace is completely diminished, I’m susceptible to all the frailties of humanity, including nearsightedness.”

Sam shook his head to clear it and sat down in the chair. “I wanted to talk to you about something, but I’m not sure how you’ll feel about it.”

“Shoot, Samsquatch,” Gabriel said curiously. 

“I was wondering…see when Lucifer was in apocalypse world he kinda…powered up by taking in the grace of the angels he killed…” 

“And you want to know why I didn’t do the same thing,” Gabriel guessed and Sam nodded. “Well for one thing, stealing grace is the most heinous thing an angel can do to another angel. But even if I were willing to do that, with no powers at all to call on and the fact that they attack in packs, if I had tried for anything but killing blows they would have overwhelmed me immediately.” 

“Oh. I should have known if Lucifer did it then it would be bad, but…well…if you were willing…we could go back and do that, but I’ll understand if you don’t want to,” Sam said quickly, wanting Gabriel to know that it was an option, but he wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t take it, despite how much longer it would take to solve their current problems. 

Gabriel sighed and closed his eyes. He heard what Sam wasn’t saying. That it would enable him to help Dean and Jack faster, and he hated to burst Sam’s bubble, but, “You need to understand something, Sam.” Sam looked back up at him curiously. “I’m a lot more…damaged…than Lucifer was. My time with Asmodeus was…not good for me.”

“So it wouldn’t help anyway,” Sam guessed sadly. “I’m so sorry, Gabriel. If we had known what you were going through we would have come for you. I just figured if you were alive that you were somewhere living it up far away from all our messes.”

Gabriel shook his head. He didn’t blame Sam for that one. It was a reasonable assumption and exactly what he had intended to do. Sam would have had no way of knowing that wasn’t the case. “It would help, just not as much as you might hope. Think of it like a cracked cup. You can still put water in it, it just runs out that much faster.” 

Sam nodded sadly. He hated the thought that Gabriel was so broken. He despised Asmodeus for doing that to Gabriel and only wished he could bring the demon back and spend the next thousand years torturing him until he begged for death. He wished that there was something…anything he could do to help. 

Gabriel could see from Sam’s expression that his worry was more for Gabriel than what Gabriel could do for him which was the only reason he offered what he did next. “I know that your brother is struggling to hold Michael though, so we can try your suggestion. It should get me enough oomph to at least fly around and search for the blade. I will need everyone’s help though if I want to keep them in control enough to get a chance for this to work. Well, everyone except Jack. I don’t want to take the risk of someone getting in trouble and him using his grace instinctively.” 

Sam looked up at him, tears still glistening in his eyes. “Is there anything that can be done to fix you completely?” he asked hopefully. 

“Time. Maybe. Hopefully. It’s possible, though not likely, that the influx of grace from doing this will help to repair my grace. But I want it to be clear Sam. This is a one time thing. I am doing it because I need to right now and I will never do it again,” he said seriously. 

Sam nodded. “I know, Gabriel. And I would never ask it of you. I only hope it helps you more than you think. And not because I need you to help us,” he said before the archangel got any ideas. “Just because I need you to be whole.” It wasn’t until the words were out of his mouth that he realized how much he had revealed with that statement and ducked his head to hide his blush. 

Gabriel’s hope at that statement grew. He still didn’t plan on saying anything about his own feelings until either Sam did or until their urgent needs were met. He could start laying some groundwork though, and hope that Sam came to him first. He reached out and squeezed Sam’s hand. “Thank you, Sam.”


	9. Chapter 9

Sam made the rounds before he went to bed to let everyone know the plan for tomorrow, even Jack who, as much as he hated it, understood why he was being left behind. He had done a lot of thinking during the day and realized how much it would destroy his uncle to have to kill him so he would do everything he possibly could to make it not necessary. 

The next morning, Dean made up a filling breakfast, knowing that they would need it and they all ignored Gabriel’s tendency to drench everything in the most hideous sugary concoctions they could imagine as they planned for their trip. Gabriel’s first question to Dean was, “How secure is your Michael box?” 

“Why?” Dean asked. 

“Because the last thing we need is him getting out while we’re over there,” Gabriel pointed out. “I couldn’t hope to fight him in my state, and he would have all of his armies at his beck and call.” 

Dean grimaced as he considered how bad that could be. He couldn’t take being left behind again though. “I’ll be fine,” he assured them. 

“You’re absolutely sure?” Gabriel asked. 

“Yes,” he said firmly, looking Gabriel in the eye and the archangel nodded. 

“I know we will have enough for two portals, but we should try and get it done in one if possible,” Sam told them. “Any ideas how we can lure some angels into a trap without getting more than we can handle?” 

“I could use my grace to send up a beacon when we get there. They will send someone to investigate, but they aren’t likely to send a lot,” Cas suggested. 

Gabriel nodded. “That could work. And remember. No killing blows unless it’s life or death. I would rather kill as few as possible,” he said with a grimace. 

Sam looked at him concerned. “Gabriel, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” 

“I don’t want to, Sam and I will never want to. But it’s necessary, so I’ll deal.” 

Sam nodded as they finished their breakfast. Jack showed up at the end of breakfast to see them off. “Don’t burn the place down while we’re gone, kid,” Gabriel joked before stepping through. 

Sam chuckled at the confused look on Jack’s face. “It’s just an expression. We’ll explain when we get back,” he told the Nephilim as Dean and Cas went through before taking his own turn. 

They all moved away from the rift and into the woods so that they didn’t risk the angels seeing the rift and going through before Cas sent up a beacon. It wasn’t long before ten angels arrived and they set to work. Gabriel managed to grab the grace from two right off the bat and they could see him get stronger as they each handled two at the start as Gabriel picked them off one by one for their grace. Apparently one of them managed to call for reinforcements during the fight though because they weren’t quite done when another wave of ten showed up. They had gone through thirty angels before Gabriel let out a burst of power killing the rest and keeping them from calling for any more. “I’m as good as I’m gonna get. We should get back before anything else finds that portal.” 

Once they were back through, and Jack informed them that nothing else had come through while they were gone, which wasn’t surprising since they were only gone for an hour, Sam handed Gabriel the list of cities where they knew or suspected that Michael had been. “I’ll stay and help guard the portal until it closes before I go out.”

Sam shook his head. “We got that covered Gabe and if we get in over our heads you’re only a prayer away,” he told him, giving him a look that Gabriel understood. He wanted him on this while he was still strong enough, before too much of the grace leaked out. None of the others knew how precarious his current situation was and Sam was being nice enough not to mention it. Gabriel nodded and looked at the list before disappearing. 

By the time Gabriel returned it was nearly midnight and both hunters were sleeping in chairs in the library while Cas was keeping watch. Gabriel looked curiously at Cas. “They wanted to be close enough to help if something came through, but I wanted them to get some rest, so we compromised,” he whispered. “Did you have any luck brother?” 

Gabriel shook his head. “No. I checked all of the cities on the list. I just wanted to check in before I continue looking.”

“Where else will you look?” Cas asked. 

“I figure I’ll start with the hard to find or hard to get to places. Volcanoes, ocean crevices, sinkholes, stuff like that. Then if there’s still no luck I’ll just have to overturn every rock in the world. At least until I run out of juice,” Gabriel told him. At least he knew that Michael wasn’t nearly creative enough to hide it on another planet, though orbit was a possibility. With that Gabriel headed back out as the hunters slept on. 

They were just sitting down to dinner the next day before Gabriel returned, looking exhausted and plopped the blade onto the table before loading his plate. “I’m an idiot for thinking Michael was clever,” Gabriel said irritatedly. 

Sam bit his lip to keep from laughing as he asked. “Where was it?”

“Hidden in the trunk of the tree of life,” Gabriel said as he took his first bite of the chocolate slathered steak. “The first place I should have checked.” 

Sam couldn’t help the chuckle at the irony. He hid the instrument of his death in the tree of life.

“So when are we gonna do this?” Dean asked with a grimace. He knew it would hurt like a bitch, and that he would have a long recovery. He had seen what Nick went through after Michael stabbed him.

“I figure after dinner will be good enough,” Gabriel suggested. “Unless you’d rather wait until tomorrow.”

“After dinner is fine. I want to get it over with. I don’t suppose you can just stab me in the arm or something?” he asked hopefully. 

“Nope. No can do bucko. Has to be head or torso,” Gabriel said apologetically. 

“And you’re sure you can do this without accidentally killing me?” Dean asked worriedly. 

“If I weren’t, I wouldn’t do it,” Gabriel said seriously. 

Suddenly, Dean froze for a moment before a cruel grin came across his face. “Aww isn’t that so sweet.” 

“Michael,” Gabriel spat grabbing the blade from the table as Sam, Cas, and Jack jumped to their feet as well. 

“Jack, go to your room,” Sam hissed in a whisper. 

“But…” Jack started to argue. 

“We can’t risk it Jack. We’ll be fine. Go,” Cas chimed in and Jack slipped out the door that he was closest to a little sullenly. 

Gabriel took advantage of Michael’s distraction over Jack leaving to lunge with the blade, but he quickly found himself sliding across the floor, the blade clattering from his hand. Once he reached the wall, he tried to get back up as Cas and Sam tried to get in the fight but they all found themselves on their knees on the floor, hands tied behind their backs. “Now now. You don’t really think I would fall for the same trick twice do you?” he chided them before turning to look at Gabriel. “Gabriel. Why won’t you just stay dead for once in your miserable life?” 

“Because I’m smarter than you of course Mikey,” Gabriel snarked. 

“You don’t seem very smart right now, dear brother,” Michael sneered. “You should show a little more respect when you are at my mercy.” 

“Ha! I’ll show respect for you over my dead body,” Gabriel snapped. 

“What about over your soulmate’s dead body?” Michael smirked, pulling Sam to him and wrapping a hand around his throat. “Would that work for you, Gabriel?” 

“S-soulmate?” Sam breathed out, cutting his eyes over to Gabriel barely able to see him. 

“You harm one hair on his head and I will make you beg for death, Michael,” Gabriel growled menacingly as he gathered his power for one last burst.

Michael just laughed as he turned his attention to Sam, starting to choke him. “You didn’t know, did you? He never saw fit to tell you. Tsk tsk tsk. What does that say about his trustworthiness, Sam?” 

Gabriel let one last burst of all the power he had, breaking the bindings and scooping up the blade as he dove across the table, tackling Michael and shoving the blade through his chest. The light show was intense and Sam couldn’t help but look away, and when he looked back, Gabriel was bent over Dean. 

“Is he…” Sam asked, unable to even form the word. He knew that Gabriel swore he could do it without killing him, but that was in a controlled setting. Now, he wasn’t so sure.


	10. Chapter 10

“He’ll be fine. Eventually. I made sure to miss anything of consequence, but he could use some stitches,” Gabriel told him, getting up and leaving the room without a word. 

“I’ll let Jack know it’s over,” Cas said, heading out as well, leaving Sam to move over to Dean to stitch him up. 

“Next time, Sammy, don’t let me say yes to one of those sons of bitches,” Dean gasped out as Sam helped him to the chair. 

“Like you ever listen to me,” Sam grumbled. Part of him wanted nothing more than to go after Gabriel to talk about the revelation of the evening, but Dean needed him first. He would find Gabriel after Dean was settled. Sam ran for the first aid kit and a bottle of whiskey. He poured some of the whiskey over the wound before handing Dean the bottle and started the stitches. As he saw where the wound was, he was amazed that Dean was still alive. Either Gabriel was very lucky or very good. 

After the stitches, he wrapped the wound in bandages and helped Dean to his bed. “I’ll bring you by some breakfast in the morning. Try not to move if you can help it. I’ll have Cas and Jack sit with you tonight,” Sam told him. 

“Come on Sammy. You know I hate when they watch me sleep,” Dean whined. 

“Well you’re just gonna have to deal with it for a little while,” Sam told him apologetically. As he was coming out of the room, he met Jack and Cas headed down the hallway and asked them to sit with Dean for the night and he would take over tomorrow. That done he headed for Gabriel’s room. 

Sam was just reaching up to knock on the door when the door opened to Gabriel standing there with his full duffel bag on his shoulder. “What…wh-where are you going?” Sam asked, hurt. 

“Away,” Gabriel told him as he brushed past Sam. It was better to leave on his own before he got thrown out. He had thought he might have a chance, but now…Michael was right. How could Sam ever trust him now that he knew he’d kept something so important from him? How could Sam ever trust him after having to hear something like that from an enemy instead of him?

Sam reached out and grabbed his arm before he got far. “Gabriel, wait.” 

“Don’t worry. I’ll still be back to help Jack once I’m strong enough,” Gabriel assured him, not turning to look. 

“I don’t care about that,” Sam told him. Well, he did care about it in the long run, but not right this second. “We need to talk about what Michael said.”

“No, we don’t Sam,” Gabriel said shakily. “It doesn’t matter. Not anymore.” 

“Then you don’t…don’t want me,” Sam said heartbrokenly as he dropped Gabriel’s arm. “I understand. Just…know that you can still come around if you want. And if you…you ever need someplace to lay low…our door is open…and…and if you ever…change your mind…I-I’ll be here,” Sam said softly, swallowing around the lump in his throat as his eyes filled with tears. 

Gabriel could hear the longing in Sam’s voice and spun to look at him. At the sight of the tears in the hunter’s eyes, that hope that Gabriel had felt blossoming and had died a fiery death an hour earlier, came back with a vengeance and he dropped his bag and threw himself at Sam, crashing his lips into the hunter’s. He felt Sam’s arms wrap around him and pull him in tightly as he kissed him back desperately. 

They didn’t part until they needed air and Sam whispered, “Was that a good-bye kiss?” 

“Not if you don’t want it to be,” Gabriel whispered back. 

“I don’t,” Sam said, tightening his arms around Gabriel’s waist again and Gabriel just sighed happily, leaning his head against Sam’s chest. 

“Good. Me either.”

“Then why were you leaving?” Sam asked confused. 

“Because I didn’t think you wanted anything to do with me, and I just…couldn’t face you after that,” Gabriel admitted. 

“Why would you think I didn’t want you?” Sam asked pulling Gabriel back into his room so they didn’t have this conversation in the hallway. 

“Because I never told you…I hid it from you…and then you had to hear it from him…like that…” Gabriel trailed off with a shrug. 

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Sam asked. 

“I didn’t want you to know unless…well…” 

“Unless I loved you without knowing,” Sam finished when he saw Gabriel wasn’t able to. When Gabriel nodded and looked down, Sam lifted his chin back up to look him in the eye. “I’ve loved you since the day I met you, Gabriel. Even when I thought you were just another monster, I still loved you. I couldn’t help it. If I had known…”

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Gabriel asked, reaching up to brush a lock of Sam’s hair behind his ear. 

“Because first you were a monster and while I couldn’t stop myself from loving you, I wouldn’t let myself do more. I was very black and white back then. Then you were an archangel and I could never deserve an archangel. Especially not after the demon blood and releasing Lucifer. When you came back, I contented myself with just being near you and that was as good as I thought it was ever going to get.” 

Gabriel couldn’t help the smile that broke out on his face as he leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to Sam’s lips. “You’re an idiot, Winchester,” he smirked amusedly. 

“Yeah? Well you’re an idiot too, archangel,” Sam teased back, pulling him in for another kiss. When Gabriel melted into it, Sam nibbled the archangel’s lower lip and Gabriel happily opened for him as they kissed each other deeply and passionately. It wasn’t until Sam felt Gabriel’s erection pressing against his own that he realized where this was heading and he realized he definitely didn’t want to stop. Ever. 

When he could tell that Sam needed air, Gabriel pulled his lips away from Sam’s and started kissing and nipping at the hunter’s neck and Sam moaned out, “Gabriel…” That was nearly the undoing of the archangel as he reached up to shove Sam’s overshirt off his shoulders and Sam let him go long enough to shuck it off, before doing the same to Gabriel’s and then pulling the archangel’s t-shirt over his head. Once he was free, he returned his lips to Sam’s for a deep dirty kiss as he started unbuttoning the hunter’s shirt and for the love of all that’s holy don’t let Sam stop him now. 

Once they were both shirtless, Gabriel pushed Sam back onto the bed, sliding on top of him as he ground his erection over top of Sam’s, causing them both to moan into each other’s mouths as Sam’s hands found Gabriel’s belt and started undoing it shakily. When Gabriel felt Sam’s shaking hands, he knew that he needed to be sure. He sat back and took Sam’s hand’s in his, not moving them away, but not letting them continue either. “Are you sure, Sam?” Sam nodded. “I mean, really sure because if we don’t stop now, I don’t know if I’ll be able to,” he whispered huskily. 

“I want you, Gabriel. I need you. All of you,” Sam said breathily. “Please,” he added. 

Gabriel let go of Sam’s hands and snapped his finger’s vanishing the rest of their clothes and materializing some lube before swaying a bit. He really shouldn’t have done that. But fuck if he cared right now. Thankfully, Sam didn’t notice his momentary lack of equilibrium and Gabriel started kissing and biting down Sam’s chest, paying particular attention to his nipples as he slicked up his fingers and slid one into the hunter’s tight ass. He stopped moving his hand when Sam shifted uncomfortably, and kept it still as his lips and his other hand continued to roam over the rest of the hunter’s body. 

When he felt Sam pressing down on his finger for more, he started moving, going straight for the sweet spot just as his tongue trailed up Sam’s leaking cock and Sam let out a choked moan. Gabriel inserted a second finger as he swallowed Sam’s length to the root and when he felt the hand tighten in his hair he swallowed around it, pumping his fingers quickly. If they didn’t get this show on the road he wasn’t going to make it to the main event. He pulled his mouth off of Sam before the hunter could get too close and leaned up to kiss him again, grinding his own aching cock down over Sam’s while inserting a third finger and stilling as Sam shifted uncomfortably again. “Fuck, Sammy. Need you so bad…” he whispered with a hint of a growl to his voice and Sam shuddered in arousal, pressing himself onto Gabriel’s fingers again as the archangel started pumping and stretching them, getting Sam as loose as he could. 

“T-then take me, Gabriel,” Sam gasped out as Gabriel hit the sweet spot again and again. The archangel removed his fingers and inserted his cock in one swift move and Sam’s back arched off the bed as he cried out in both pleasure and pain, but mostly pleasure. Gabriel had angled that first thrust just right to hit the pleasure button. 

Gabriel gave Sam a minute to adjust, as hard as it was for him to not just start pounding mercilessly into Sam’s tight ass and he waited until Sam started pressing up for more before he started moving. Gabriel reached down to stroke Sam in time with his thrusts, knowing that he wasn’t going to last long this time, but consoling himself with the fact that Sam seemed to be in the same boat and it was no time at all before he felt the clenching around him as Sam came, pulling his own from him at the same time. 

Once they were spent, Gabriel collapsed on Sam, breathing heavily and Sam wrapped his arms around the archangel. “Holy fuck,” he gasped out. 

“Literally,” Gabriel quipped, pulling a breathy chuckle from Sam.


	11. Chapter 11

Gabriel managed to roll off Sam to curl up to his side as he asked, only a little worried, “Any regrets?” 

Sam grinned and pulled Gabriel tightly against him. “Only that we didn’t start this fifteen years ago.” They both chuckled a bit before Sam asked, a little more worried than Gabriel had been. “What about you? Any regrets?” 

“Other than the same as you, not a one,” Gabriel said with a smile, pressing a kiss to Sam’s chest. “Even if you end up hating me later,” he almost whispered. Now, with this, he couldn’t stand keeping anything else from Sam. 

“I could never hate you Gabriel,” Sam assured him. 

“Don’t be so sure about that,” Gabriel muttered. 

“Why?” Sam asked confused. 

“Because if I can’t save Jack…” 

“I know,” Sam cut him off. He didn’t need to hear it. He didn’t want to hear it. “I’ve known ever since you told me the whole story of Enochian magic. But I also know that you will do everything in your power to not have to make that choice, so that’s good enough for me.” 

Gabriel look at Sam in shock for a minute, before he realized he had something else to confess too, though considerably smaller. “I lied to you about something that day too,” he admitted. 

“Oh?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“When I said I had no loyalty to anything anymore…”

“I know that too,” Sam cut him off again with a chuckle. This was a considerably easier subject. 

“Okay, Mr. Smartypants. How did you know that one?” Gabriel teased. 

“Because if you had no loyalty at all, you would have just killed us all and called it a day. That would have been infinitely easier than helping us fix everything. You wouldn’t have even mentioned that it was possible for you to fix it. Hell, I’ve known since Lucifer rose and I realized what the whole Mystery Spot incident was all about that you were on our side. And I knew that you were loyal to us in particular when you agreed to help against Michael.”

“I agreed to help against Michael because you helped me with Loki,” he pointed out. 

“I know. But once that was done there was nothing stopping you from walking away. You didn’t have to hold up your end of the bargain. That, my dear angel, is loyalty,” Sam said lightly pressing a quick kiss to the archangel’s lips. 

Gabriel couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’ve just got me all figured out don’t you?” 

“More than you know,” Sam said amusedly, but with a hint of sadness too. 

Gabriel noticed that sadness and looked at Sam curiously. “What’s wrong?” 

“It’s not important right now,” Sam said honestly. He didn’t particularly want to bring down the mood, but on the other hand, he may never get a better chance to get an honest answer out of the archangel. 

“Come on, Samshine. Talk to me,” Gabriel prodded worriedly. 

Sam sighed. It seemed that bringing the mood down it was. “I was just thinking that I also know how you’re not as recovered from everything you’ve been through as you want us to think.” 

Gabriel’s face went carefully blank. “I’m fine,” he assured Sam. 

Sam just shook his head. “No. You’re not. But that’s okay. It’s okay not to be fine, because I will spend the rest of my life doing whatever I possibly can to get you fine again. Though it would make my job easier if you would let me in,” he said gently. 

“You don’t want to know, Sam. You have enough of your own trauma to deal with without taking on mine too,” Gabriel told him, burrowing his head into Sam’s chest. 

Sam leaned his head against the top of Gabriel’s. “Gabriel, you are the most important thing in the world to me. If I can help you, even a little bit, that will make everything else worth it. Please don’t shut me out, angel.” 

Gabriel sighed. He was so powerless against Sam when he was like this. “On one condition…two actually,” he reconsidered. 

“What conditions?” Sam asked. 

“You have to do the same for me. Let me in on what you’re thinking and feeling and let me help you through what you’ve been through,” he stated the first one and he waited until Sam nodded before he continued. “Second, it waits until at least tomorrow. I just want to enjoy tonight for now.” 

Sam smiled and pulled Gabriel tighter. “I can live with that.” 

They lay there in silence for a few minutes, Sam running his fingers through Gabriel’s silky soft hair and Gabriel pressing lazy kisses to Sam’s hard chest. Sam was the first to break the silence when he said, “You know…I was thinking…” 

“Hmm?” Gabriel asked contentedly. 

“Since you already have your stuff packed and all…well…my room is big enough for two,” he finished hesitantly, biting his lip as he waited for an answer. 

Gabriel grinned against Sam’s chest. “Well since I’m already packed and all…that sounds perfect,” he finished in a much less casual tone than he started and leaned up to kiss Sam deeply.

“Though, I’m not sure if you realized, but we are going to have to make our way there naked,” Gabriel chuckled. 

“Huh?” Sam asked not quite following. 

“Well…I kinda used the last little speck of my power to vanish our clothes…”

“Maybe I can borrow…oh crap. Yours are in your bag down the hallway aren’t they,” Sam said closing his eyes in defeat. 

“Mhmm,” Gabriel said amused. 

“Might as well go now then while Dean is laid up and Cas and Jack are sitting with him,” Sam suggested. 

Gabriel laughed and got up, holding a hand out to Sam. “S’okay Sam-a-lam. You can hide behind me if you want. I’m not shy.” 

Sam laughed, but did just that, grabbing Gabriel’s bag along the way for extra protection as they went two hallways over to get to Sam’s room and thankfully made it without encountering anyone else. Once they were there, Sam put Gabriel’s bag on the desk and asked, “You want to unpack now or in the morning?” 

“In the morning. I want more cuddles now,” Gabriel said with a grin. 

“Cuddle bunny,” Sam teased. 

“Never made a secret of it, Sammykins,” he reminded the hunter as Sam pulled back the blanket and they both climbed into bed, Gabriel wasting no time wrapping himself around the hunter again. 

Sam ran one hand over Gabriel’s back as the other ran through his hair. “There is something else we should probably discuss sooner rather than later.”

“Is it going to bring down the mood?” Gabriel pouted. 

“Maybe, but I doubt it,” Sam told him. Truth was, even if it did, now that he thought about it, he needed it resolved and he was suddenly very aware of the fact that though it was implied, Gabriel hadn’t yet told him outright that he loved him. 

“Then shoot.” 

“Rowena,” Sam simply said. 

“The witch? What about her?” Gabriel asked. 

“You and Rowena,” Sam said firmly. 

Gabriel ignored the worry he felt creeping in. He’d done nothing wrong and he wasn’t going to apologize for it, even if Sam was mad. “It wasn’t what you apparently think it was,” Gabriel told him. 

“Then what was it?” Sam asked with only a hint of suspicion. He really hoped that Gabriel wasn’t about to lie to him. 

“My pride was bruised and she offered to stroke it for me…”

“So it was your pride she was stroking?” Sam snarked.

Gabriel’s lip’s quirked despite his worry. “Mrow. Kitty’s got claws.” Sam just glared at him, but more in warning than anger, and Gabriel sighed. “Yes, we slept together. Not that any conclusion was reached if you know what I mean, but it was just a roll in the hay. It meant nothing to either of us.”

“You’re sure of that?” Sam asked skeptically. 

“Sammy, I’ve loved you since the moment I first laid eyes on you. I’ve slept with a lot of people over the millennia. Hell, I’ve slept with a lot of people since we met, but you’re the only one that’s meant anything in a very long time. I can’t and won’t apologize for things I did before we were together, but now that we are, it’s you and only you for as long as you’ll have me. Can’t that be good enough?” 

Sam shook his head ruefully. “That’s not what I meant, Gabe, but thank you for the reassurance,” he said pressing a quick kiss to the now very relieved archangel’s lips. “What I meant is are you sure it meant nothing to her? I need to know if I should be watching my back for a three-hundred-year-old witch upset that I stole her man.”

Gabriel laughed heartily. “I’m almost positive, and only almost because despite my age, women can still be a bit of a mystery to me at times. I doubt you would need to watch your back either way though. She doesn’t strike me as the suicidal type and if she hurt you she would know that she’d have a pissed off archangel after her.” 

Sam chuckled. “Fair enough.” He pulled Gabriel tighter against him and closed his eyes. 

Sam was almost asleep when he heard the whispered, “Love you, Sammy.” 

“Love you too, Gabe,” he murmured back as he drifted off.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Gabriel woke up first and snuggled tighter against Sam. This was only the second time in many years that he hadn’t woke up from debilitating nightmares and night terrors. It was no surprise that the last time it happened was the last time he slept with Sam. He grinned at the fact that he wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore. He could sleep with Sam every night now. He wasn’t naïve enough to believe that he would never have a night like that again, but at least they would be few and far between now if the last few times were any indication. 

Gabriel lay there for nearly an hour lazily tracing designs on Sam’s chest and stomach, before the hunter started to stir. He creaked his eyes open only to see Gabriel watching him with a goofy grin on his face and he couldn’t help but grin back as he lifted his head for a kiss. “Good morning, angel.” 

“And a very good morning it is, Samshine. Ready for breakfast?” 

As if in answer, Sam stomach growled pulling a laugh from Gabriel. “Apparently,” Sam said with a chuckle. 

“I know you probably want to check on your brother, so I’ll whip us all up something and bring it in there,” Gabriel offered. 

“Normal food?” Sam asked skeptically. 

“Of course, Sammykins,” Gabriel said cheerfully. “I don’t expect everyone to eat like me.” 

“Then yes, please and thank you,” Sam said kissing Gabriel one more time before getting up. They split up outside Dean’s room, Gabriel continuing on to the kitchen. 

Sam knocked lightly on the door, not wanting to wake Dean up if he wasn’t already awake, but apparently he was as he heard, “Come on in, Sammy.” Sam opened the door and came in, sitting in the only free chair in the room. “I thought you said you’d bring breakfast?” he pouted. 

Sam laughed. “Gabe is making it. He’ll bring it in when it’s done.”

“You did remind him we like normal food right?” Dean asked with mock worry. 

“Obviously,” Sam rolled his eyes. “How are you feeling?” 

“Ready to get out of this bed,” he said, despite knowing that was at least a week away if not longer. He was just thankful that Cas had enough mojo to keep his bladder and bowels from getting uncomfortable, because he would be damned if he was gonna piss in a cup for the next week. 

“As I have told you Dean, Gabriel’s blade missed your heart by about half an inch and your lungs by less, not to mention all of the arteries and veins. If you tear the wound open any worse, you could damage any of those things fatally,” Cas said wearily. 

“He knows, Cas. He’s just being difficult,” Sam told him. They really shouldn’t have moved him to his bed last night, but there was no way they could have left him laying in the kitchen floor for a week so they had to risk it. Since the initial wound was made by an archangel blade, it wasn’t able to be healed by anyone. 

Sam noticed the dark circles under Dean’s eyes and had to ask, “Did you get any sleep last night?” 

“Not a lot,” Dean admitted. Between the pain and the angel and Nephilim watching him, it was a difficult night. 

“How about if we just go and get a monitor to put in here so you can just say something if you need anything and Cas and Jack can stay in the other room and still hear you?” Sam suggested. He would have suggested it last night, but for one thing it was late and for another he was too wrung out to think of it. 

“That would be much better,” Dean agreed before sniffing the air. “Smells good.”

Sam chuckled. Dean could smell bacon from a mile away and he couldn’t resist the urge to torture his brother a bit. “Yeah it does. Don’t worry. Gabe is making you a protein shake since you can’t eat solid food laying on your back.” 

“The hell I can’t!” Dean protested. “I better get some real food in here or I’m totally gonna pull a Donner Party in this bitch.”

Sam started laughing uproariously just as Gabriel came in the door balancing three plates. “Not to worry Deano. You have real food, but you’ll still have to let Cassie cut it up for you and feed you,” he laughed, handing Dean’s plate to Cas containing regular pancakes with butter and maple syrup, Sam’s plate to Sam containing plain pancakes with strawberries, bananas, and strawberry sauce on top, and sat down on the desk with his own plate of chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate and caramel syrup and whipped cream. All the plates also had scrambled eggs, Dean’s with cheese, Sam’s with veggies, and Gabriel’s with chocolate chips and Sam and Dean’s plate also contained generous helpings of bacon. “Jack, your plate is in the kitchen. Sorry I could only carry three at a time, and Cassie I know you don’t eat so I didn’t make you one.”

“At least let me knaw on the bacon while you’re cutting Cas, come on,” Dean rolled his eyes holding out a hand for the bacon.

“Very well. Just eat carefully. You don’t want to choke,” Cas told him, handing over a piece of bacon. 

“Yes, mom,” he said rolling his eyes again. 

“Speaking of mom,” Sam interjected. “Have you called her since all this went down?” 

“You mean since last night?” Dean chuckled. “No. I haven’t. I figure I’ll wait until about lunch time. Not sure if she’s working a case or not so I don’t want to catch her too early.”

“So how you feeling, Deano?” Gabriel asked. 

Dean smirked and took the opportunity since it was a better time than when Sam asked. “It hurts like hell, but it’s better than having an archangel riding my ass.” 

Sam choked on his food as he blushed bright red and Gabriel laughed as much at Sam’s reaction as he did at Dean’s comment as he patted Sam’s back to dislodge the food. Dean looked at Cas and said, “Looks like you warned the wrong brother not to choke.” 

“You did that on purpose didn’t you?” Sam asked with a glare. 

“Of course. Once Cas told me about Michael’s little bombshell last night, I knew exactly what was going to happen. I mean, you’ve only been pining for the guy for years,” Dean teased. 

“Dean!” Sam warned. 

“Hey this is payback for the protein shake,” Dean laughed as he took another bite of bacon. 

“It’s okay, Sammy. He’s just jealous that you have the best archangel riding your ass and he got stuck with my jackass brother,” Gabriel told him only for Sam to choke again. 

Sam turned around and smacked Gabriel hard in the arm. “You’re not hurt so you I can hit, you ass,” Sam said both irritated and amused. A state of being he was apparently going to have to get used to with Gabriel and Dean around. 

Cas noticed that Jack looked confused, so he explained, “It is simply puerile ribald humor. I will explain later.”

“Yeah guys. No corrupting the kid,” Sam tried futilely to stop the jokes at his expense, though he supposed he did ask for it what with teasing Dean about breakfast. That was no excuse for Gabriel to abandon him to the wolves though, and he stopped his train of thought before he made himself choke this time by imagining all the ways he could punish Gabriel for it. 

“Anyway…Cas, after breakfast would you mind going to pick up a monitor at the store? And maybe find a cheap video game system at the pawn shop or something?” Sam asked trying to change the subject. Now that he was awake, he didn’t want to get too far away from Dean in case he needed something. 

Gabriel scoffed. “I’ll go with you Cassie. And Jack can come too. And we’ll get a good video game system not some junk.” 

“We don’t want to waste our cards if we don’t need to,” Sam told him. 

“You’re not. This is at least partially my fault. I’ll be footing the bill for the convalescence entertainment,” Gabriel waved him off. 

“You did us a favor, Gabriel. This isn’t your fault,” Sam frowned at him. 

“I didn’t think of a better idea. I got reckless by broadcasting that we had the blade and were about to use it in front of Michael. I’m the one who did the stabbing. Thus, it is partially my fault,” Gabriel reasoned. 

“Gabe…”

“No arguing, Sammykins. Just let me do this,” he said pointedly cutting his eyes back to Dean and then back to Sam telling Sam that there was more to this than met the eye, so Sam just nodded. He would get it out of Gabriel later. 

“Thanks Gabe, but you know you don’t have to, right?” Dean felt the need to say. 

“I know. But I want to. Besides, once you’re well, I’ll get plenty of use out of it too,” Gabriel told him.


	13. Chapter 13

After breakfast Cas, Jack, and Gabe all went out to the store and Gabriel went all out. He brought home a new big screen tv for the living room, a top of the line video game system, about fifty games, a surround sound system, and a stereo system along with the requested monitor. Sam didn’t see most of it for a while because they just brought the living room tv into Dean’s room along with the video game system and the game selection. Sam and Gabriel got it all hooked up for Dean and then spent the rest of the morning playing games. Sam and Dean played alone for a bit while Gabriel ‘took care of some things’, i.e. setting up the big screen, surround sound, and stereo system in the living room, but then the three of them played for the rest of the morning while Cas and Jack took a break from Dean sitting. 

Cas went out for lunch and after they all had a nice lunch sitting in Dean’s room, he kicked them all out. “I’m gonna call mom and then crash for a while,” Dean promised. Sam got the monitor set up for him, and they were all pointedly not calling it a baby monitor despite the fact that’s what it was, and Sam and Gabriel headed for the living room. 

Sam stopped short in the doorway with his jaw hanging open. “Gabriel…what the hell did you do?” 

“Splurged a little,” Gabriel said with a cheerful shrug.

“Why? Because you feel guilty about Dean?” Sam asked. 

“No. Because I wanted to. Because…” he stopped himself and shifted uncomfortably. 

Sam reached out to grab his shoulder, turning him to look at him. “Because what, angel?” 

“Because…I want this to be my home too, and I like nice stuff,” Gabriel admitted, hating how exposed the first part of that statement made him feel. 

Sam smiled and kissed Gabriel softly. “This /is/ your home too, Gabriel. As long as you want it to be. And if that’s why you bought all this then that’s okay. I just didn’t want you spending a whole bunch of money for misplaced guilt. That’s the only reason I argued before. You can have anything you want here,” Sam assured him. 

Gabriel relaxed and grinned. He had been worried before when Sam hadn’t wanted him to spend money on stuff for here, but he should have realized it was just stupid nobility. He did realize it even, but his insecurity was a little harder to control. “So while your brother is calling your mom, we should probably update Rowena too,” Gabriel suggested. 

“Why?” Sam asked, trying not to have his own bout of insecurity. 

“Because as far as I understand, you two have a good working relationship with her, and short as it may have been, we did have a thing. Better to hear that I’m alive and back from us than just from popping up one day and spotting me,” Gabriel pointed out. “I doubt she would take that well, and I can’t imagine that pissing off a three-hundred-year-old witch would be a good idea.”

Sam nodded. “Yeah. That makes sense.” Sam considered what he was about to say for a minute before he decided to just bit the bullet. Better to say it now, than cause problems later because he didn’t. “You need to know that I do trust you, Gabe, and I’m not going to go all jealous and suspicious and stuff. That said, this whole thing with Rowena will make me uncomfortable for a while. I’ll get over it and I’ll do my best not to take it out on you while I do.”

Gabriel smiled and pulled Sam in for a searing kiss. When they broke for air, the archangel looked Sam in the eyes and said, “I’m glad you told me, and that you know that you’re the only one for me. It’s completely understandable to be uncomfortable for a while and anytime you need reassurance, just let me know. I won’t think less of you for it okay?” 

Sam grinned. “Thanks Gabe.” That had gone better than he thought. He pulled out his phone to call Rowena. After telling her that Gabriel was back and alive, she asked to talk to him. Sam hesitated a moment before handing Gabriel the phone though, not because he didn’t want her to talk to him, but because he wasn’t sure if he should tell her that they were together or let Gabriel do it. When Gabriel held a hand out for the phone with an encouraging look though, Sam handed it over. Apparently Rowena wanted to continue their encounter from before that got interrupted, but Gabriel was quick to inform her that he was taken now. Permanently. There was a bit of teasing back and forth about who was missing out on what, but Gabriel kept the blatant flirting to a minimum. When the conversation was over Gabriel looked at Sam, waiting for a reaction. “I’m good, Gabe. I know you’re hopeless flirt and that’s just who you are. I’m not asking you to change or anything for me.” Sam knew what Gabriel was wondering about and was quick to ease his mind. 

“So, what do we want to do for the rest of the day?” Gabriel asked. 

Sam shrugged. “Seems kind of silly to waste all this,” he gestured to the new setup in the living room. “We can watch some movies,” he suggested. “But first, we should get you all unpacked in my room.” 

Gabriel grinned at that idea and grabbed Sam’s hand. It didn’t take them long to unpack. Gabriel hadn’t been here for long before, so he didn’t have much stuff. Just some clothes and toiletries. The basics that they had gotten him set up with when they realized he wasn’t able to just snap up what he needed anymore. 

Once they returned to the living room, Gabriel grabbed the first Harry Potter movie. He knew that Sam was a fan and he kinda enjoyed them too. Not that they watched much of the movie, or the next one, being too wrapped up in each other. After the second movie, Gabriel went to cook dinner. Sam was glad Gabriel was a good cook because none of them were that great at it. Dean was the best of them, but he was laid up for now, so Sam was happy to let Gabriel take over the cooking. 

Sam had heard over the monitor that Dean had woken up not long after Gabriel started cooking, so Sam headed to Dean’s room to hang out while Gabriel was finishing up dinner. It was halfway through dinner though when Gabriel and Cas both yelped and grabbed their heads, doubling over for a moment. “Shit!” Gabriel said as soon as it was over. 

“Gabriel…” Cas looked at him wide-eyed and panicked. 

“I can’t fly yet. How can I get there?” Gabriel asked Cas seriously. 

“I’ll take you to the portal. I only hope we won’t be too late,” Cas said jumping to his feet. 

“What…” Sam asked worried and confused. 

Gabriel stopped and turned to look at Sam in desperation. “Heaven is falling. I have to go. I have to do what I can. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I swear to you Sam, I will come back.” 

Sam nodded and pulled Gabriel into a quick desperate kiss. “I know. Go. I love you.”

“Love you too, Samshine,” Gabriel whispered brushing a hand down Sam’s cheek before turning and running full speed out the door. 

Once the two angels were gone, Sam collapsed back into the chair, pushing his plate away. He wasn’t hungry anymore. “Sammy?” Dean asked worriedly. 

“I’m okay, Dean. Just…worried,” Sam told him. 

“He’ll be back,” Dean told him, not having a doubt in his mind about that fact. 

“I know he will do everything possible to come back, but if heaven falls, Dean…if they don’t make it in time…or if there’s nothing he can do…”

Jack reached over and took Sam’s hand. He’d been on the receiving end of this enough that he was pretty sure he knew what to do. “You just have to have faith Sam. Everything will work out.”

Sam took a deep breath and squeezed Jack’s hand gratefully. “You’re right, Jack. Thanks.” Sam was heartened that Jack had tried at least, and it did help. Just not as much as Sam made it seem. He didn’t want to hurt Jack’s feelings or make him feel like he didn’t do well enough, and it wasn’t like there was anything that they could do from here anyway. He caught Dean’s look and shook his head. He knew that his brother didn’t buy the act, but he was as good as he was going to get for now, so it would have to be good enough.


	14. Chapter 14

Cas broke every traffic law in existence as they raced for the portal and it was either pure luck or divine intervention that had them not being pulled over. Cas was extra worried when there was no guard at the portal, but it did make things easier for them to get in. 

Cas and Gabriel appeared in heaven and it was all Gabriel could do to keep from taking back off again. Not only was he back in heaven after so long, but it was nothing like he remembered. A lot of that could be explained away as the troubles they were currently facing, but he knew that most of it was because of Michael and Raphael and they way they ran things. He took a deep breath to steady himself and then projected his voice through all of heaven. “What are you doing?” he said incredulously. 

It wasn’t long at all before he had seven angels kneeling at his feet. “Gabriel…” they said in awe. “We thought you were dead a long time ago.”

“Well I’m not. And I would like an answer to my question,” Gabriel said. “Who is in charge here?” 

“You are sir,” one of the angels said. 

Gabriel saw no need to resist the urge to roll his eyes since none of them were looking anywhere but at the ground anyway. “I mean prior to now. Who has been in charge? And for heaven’s sake, get up,” he said impatiently. He knew that they would expect to be ordered around and didn’t have time to get them used to his unique way of doing things right now. It helped that he was in a great deal of emotional turmoil and quite irritated, so the act wasn’t hard to pull off. 

All of the angels jumped to their feet. “I have been taking charge in recent days,” one of them stepped forward. 

“Okay, everyone else back to work. Cassie go see what you can do to help. You. Explain,” he handed out orders, and everyone but the one who claimed to be the leader scattered, Cas not before putting a comforting hand on Gabriel’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze. He couldn’t imagine how hard all this must be for Gabriel and wanted to show his support. Gabriel gave Cas a thankful smile as he rushed off. 

“After we were deceived by Lucifer we began to lose hope, but then we learned that Michael from another world had come through and we had hoped that he would return and save us, but he never did and when we learned that he died, we thought all hope was lost. We cannot hope to run heaven for much longer with so few of us and as far as we were aware there were no other archangels and the Nephilim was tainted, so we were giving up,” she said shamefully. 

Gabriel sighed. “What is your name?” he asked genty. 

“Duma,” she told him. 

“Listen, Duma. As I’m sure you can see, I have been severely injured. My grace is damaged. I should recover in time, but I have no hope to be able to help right this moment, but when I can, I will. How long can you keep things going as they are now?” 

“Two weeks. Perhaps three if we shut everything possible down,” Duma told him. 

Gabriel resisted the urge to curse, but couldn’t resist the urge to pace as he ran a hand through his hair. There was no way he would be able to recover enough to take the brunt of heaven’s power by then. It just wasn’t possible. Unless…he groaned internally. It would be pure hell, and he would be asking a lot of the angels that were left, but it was the only way. “Okay, once everyone is finished shoring things up, I will need to meet with everyone together.” 

“Let me lead you to the meeting hall,” she suggested, and he nodded and followed her. 

It was about an hour before everyone was gathered again, and he addressed them all. “First of all, I would like to commend you for continuing your work under very difficult conditions, but I’m afraid I must ask a little bit more of you. As all of you can see, I have been injured and my grace is damaged. I will heal, but under normal circumstances, I will not be able to heal in time. I understand that you can’t keep going as you are much longer, but there is a way to speed up my healing and will allow me to take throne and begin making more angels in just over a week.” 

A murmur rose from the group of angels and Gabriel smiled as he could hear the hope in their words, though he could also hear the suspicion. “What do you need us to do?” one of them that he didn’t recognize asked. 

“I will need a donation of grace from each of you. Just a small amount and only if you are willing. This is not an order.” He wanted that clear. Only a monster would demand that an angel give up their grace, and he wouldn’t even ask at all if there was another way. He knew that Cas would give him everything he needed, but it would involve nearly draining the seraph and he would like to avoid that if he could. 

“How do we know you won’t just take our grace and abandon us again?” the same voice asked. 

“Because…” Cas started to talk angrily. 

“Easy, Cassie,” Gabriel called him down. “That is a valid question.” He addressed the group as a whole again. “I know you’ve been lied to and betrayed before, so my assurances are likely to mean little to you, but I ask you this. What do you have to lose? You were about to abandon heaven yourselves and whether anyone likes it or not I am your only hope.” He sure as hell didn’t like it so why should he expect them to.

They all seemed to consider that for a moment before Cas realized that someone had to get them moving so he stepped forward, hoping the others will follow. “You may take whatever you need from me brother,” he told Gabriel baring his throat. 

Gabriel nodded gratefully to him and waited a moment to see who else would step forward. It took a moment to get them moving, even after Cas’ declaration of trust, but after a few minutes, they had all volunteered, even the one who argued with him. Gabriel started with Cas, only taking a little bit of his grace as the rest formed a line. Duma was next and he asked the rest to introduce themselves before he took some grace from each of them. 

“Thank you all. I will return in eight days, and we can begin righting things. In the meantime, just do what you can to keep things running.” He told them. “Cassie. Walk with me.” 

Cas fell into step beside him. “What are you going to do, brother?” Cas asked. 

“I will tell you, but you mustn’t tell anyone else,” Gabriel said and waited until Cas nodded before he explained. “There is a secret chamber in the heart of heaven that is designed for time to move at a different pace. Each day that passes out here will be ten years in there. Once the door is sealed, no one and nothing can come in or out until seven days have passed. That is where new angels are created.” 

“How does no one else know of this?” Cas asked confused. 

“Our father and Michael were the only ones who were supposed to know, but you know me,” he chuckled. “I always get into everything.”

“So you will be sealed away alone for seventy years?” Cas asked incredulously. 

“Unfortunately, yes. It will be a nightmare, but it is the only way. If I’m not healed by then, I never will be.”

“So the grace you got from me and the others…” Cas trailed off in question. 

“Is just enough to open the door and then seal it behind me,” Gabriel explained. When Cas nodded that he understood, they had already reached the door. Before Gabriel went in he turned to Cas. “I need you to go back and call Sam. Don’t tell him what I’m doing, just tell him that I’ll be away for at least a week, but I still plan on coming back. Tell him everything is under control and the danger is passed. Then come back and help where you can okay?”

“Of course, brother. I will do as you ask,” Cas assured him and then pulled him into a crushing hug. It would only be a week for him, but Gabriel would be locked in a room alone for the next seventy years and he could only imagine how hard that would be. 

“Thanks, Cassie,” Gabriel said, holding Cas just as tightly. He would be lucky to come out of this sane and wanted to soak up as much positive contact as he could while he still could. “Now go,” he said with a sad smile as he shut the door behind him and winced as he heard the seals go up.


	15. Chapter 15

Once he was inside Gabriel sighed. This was going to suck. He looked around, trying to figure out what in the world he was going to do to pass the time when he realized that he could at least make a start on reprogramming the angel pods as he called them. Basically, a shot of grace in the pod and over the next seventy years it grew and programed a new angel. There were about a hundred pods in the room and the specifications could be input as to what kind of angel you wanted from the pod. 

Gabriel decided that seraphs were the most important. Archangels couldn’t be made here, even if he wanted to make more of those, and seraphs were the ones who took care of keeping heaven running, and at the moment that was the most important thing. He changed the settings on the pods so that the first batch, and probably the first few batches, would contain seventy five seraphs and twenty five cherubs. 

Once that was done he started reprogramming the rest of it. He didn’t want cold hard soldiers like Michael apparently had. In fact, a lot of the programming here appalled him. They needed combat skills, yes, so he left that alone, but dialed up the emotions and left most of the personality randomized. He struggled for a long time over the priorities and loyalties section. Part of him thought that it would be best to make heaven and humanity their first priority, but then he knew how much trouble misplaced loyalty could cause, so he finally relented and put himself as the top of loyalty, followed by heaven and humanity tied for a distant second. That way they would at least listen to him even if they thought they knew better what heaven and humanity needed. Their loyalty to each other was just behind in a close third. 

By the time he finished reprogramming all of the pods and fiddling with them over and over just to make sure he didn’t miss anything, the first fifteen years had passed. Thankfully he had stopped needing to sleep after the first ten. He never did get rid of the nightmares and night terrors, so it was a relief when he didn’t need to worry about it anymore. Normally he would have forced himself to sleep anyway just to pass the time, but it wasn’t worth it. 

His grace was fully repaired after twenty years, and it took another ten for it to replenish all the way, so the last forty years were not only tedious, but pointless. He considered seeing if it would be possible to reprogram this room to be able to modify the time it’s sealed, but put it out of his mind. He wouldn’t be able to do it from inside anyway and he didn’t plan on ever needing to be locked in here again. The current time was what was necessary for the angels to fully develop and have all the information they needed downloaded into their minds so there was no reason to reprogram it. 

After fifty years, he went back to the idea, just so he would have something to do. He had already made a solid plan for the reorganization and running of heaven, written a few speeches to the other angels, both new and old, depending on what he needed at any given time, named the next twelve batches of angels, come up with a redesign for the human souls section of heaven, not to mention read pretty much every book that was even slightly interesting to him. He’d also spent a lot of time, probably most of his time, thinking about and missing Sam. And Dean, Cas, and Jack, but mostly Sam. By the time he got out, he wasn’t entirely sure how much of his sanity he had managed to hold on to. 

Sam breathed a lot easier after the phone call from Cas. Not only because heaven was under control and they were out of danger, but also because at least now he had a time frame for Gabriel’s return. He had been worried that Gabriel would be gone for months or even years, but he could handle a week. Cas hadn’t given much detail. He’d said he had to rush back and help, but that Gabriel had asked to call him with an update. 

Dean was a little less happy about the idea. “You mean I’m gonna be stuck with your crappy cooking for the rest of the time I’m trapped in bed?” he teased. 

Sam shook his head amusedly. “We’ll probably just end up with a lot of takeout,” he admitted. He tried to keep his mind off of things by playing video games with his brother and teaching Jack how to play too, but once he went to bed, all of his mind was on Gabriel. It didn’t help that there were reminders of him all through the room as well. He knew he was being ridiculous. That a week wasn’t that long of a time, but he had just gotten Gabriel for himself. Gabriel had just moved in. He felt like they’d had no time at all before he was gone and he missed him already. 

The next week passed insanely slow. Sam made sure they had enough food, hovered over Dean enough to make the older hunter very tetchy, spent some time training Jack to do things the human way since he would be human again soon enough, and still never had enough to do to keep Gabriel off his mind. 

It had been a week almost to the minute before Sam suddenly found himself with an armload of archangel on the couch before they were immediately somewhere else and Sam’s clothes were being ripped off as Gabriel alternated between kissing him and babbling things like, “Shit, Sammy. I missed you so much. Love you.” 

Sam was having trouble keeping up, but did his best as he returned the sentiments and was in the process of removing Gabriel’s clothes as well before they disappeared. They made love hard and fast, and then slow and sweet and then hard and fast again and by the time Gabriel collapsed on top of him and curled up at his side, Sam was beyond spent. He pulled Gabriel close though and held the archangel almost as tightly as Gabriel was holding him. “I missed you too, Gabe,” he said happily now that he was sure that the words would reach him. 

“You have no idea, Samshine,” Gabriel breathed out in relief, snuggling against Sam and pressing lazy kisses to his neck and shoulders and chest as he just reveled in the moment. 

“Then tell me?” Sam asked gently. It wasn’t that he hadn’t missed Gabriel of course, but this reaction did seem a bit extreme for only a week away. 

“I know it’s only been a week for you, but it’s been seventy years for me. Seventy years in a time dilation room with only myself for company…”

“Jesus, Gabe,” Sam gasped out wide-eyed as he pulled Gabriel tighter. He couldn’t even imagine what that would be like. “How are you still sane?” 

“Who says I am,” Gabriel chuckled. “Hell, who says I ever was?” 

Sam laughed and kissed the top of Gabriel’s head. “Point. So what happened? Cas didn’t give me a lot of details.”

“Basically the angels were running on empty. They thought the last archangel was dead and they had no hope so they were about to jump ship when we got there. They wouldn’t have lasted more than a couple more weeks, and there was no way I would be able to take over by then, so I had no choice but to lock myself in that hellhole and hope that seventy years would be enough time to heal,” he told Sam. 

“So you just got out? That means you have to go back?” Sam asked sadly. 

“I told them I would be back in eight days. I knew that I had to spent at least a day with you before I went insane. I do have to go back tomorrow, and I’ll probably be working a lot for a while, but I will do everything I can to be here for at least a few hours every day. Once things are running smoothly, I don’t plan to put in more than forty hours a week though so it can just be like I’m going to work and then coming home at the end of the day. I can even spend most of that time up there while you’re sleeping so we can have more time together,” Gabriel told him. 

Sam nodded. That made sense. “Okay. So…what do you want me to do with your stuff here or…”

Gabriel’s head snapped up and he looked worriedly at Sam. “Do you not want me anymore?” he asked heart-brokenly. Please don’t let this be a choice between Sam or keeping the world spinning. 

“No, no. I do,” Sam said quickly. “But if you’re not going to be here much and not sleeping here or anything…”

Gabriel looked at Sam appraisingly, trying to figure out what he was thinking and it took him a minute to realize that this was coming from Sam’s insecurity, so he took what he hoped was the right stance. “Sam, as far as I’m concerned, we’re still living together. You are my whole world, and just because I have other things to do too doesn’t change anything. I’m helping in heaven for you more than anything else. Because if heaven falls then the earth isn’t far behind. Then /you/ aren’t far behind, and I would do anything and everything to protect you. Even going back to a place I swore never to step foot in again. Heaven will never be my home again. Not really. My home will always be with you, if you’ll have me.”

Sam let out a relieved breath as he grinned. “Of course, I’ll have you Gabe. I’m sorry. I was just being an idiot again. Never doubt that you will always have a place wherever I am.”


	16. Chapter 16

Sam and Gabriel didn’t leave the bedroom at all for the rest of the day and night. When Sam eventually fell asleep, Gabriel stayed curled up next to him and just enjoyed the closeness. He knew that Cassie would have popped back and let Dean and Cas know that Gabriel was visiting and that he would have to be back in heaven soon, but he would be around after this, so he saw no need to leave Sam’s side. 

Sam had stayed up as late as he could, not wanting to miss a minute with Gabe so it wasn’t until around four am that he finally nodded off. Gabriel knew that he had to go soon though, and waited until a little after eight before he woke Sam up. “Sorry, Samshine, but I knew you would want me to wake you up before I left. 

“You’re going back now?” Sam asked sadly. 

“Yeah. I’ll probably be gone at least for today and tonight, but I’ll try to come back for a few hours tomorrow around lunchtime,” he promised. 

Sam smiled and nodded. “Okay,” he said pulling Gabriel into another deep kiss. “I’ll see you then.”

“Love you, Sammy.”

“I love you too, Gabe,” Sam said brushing a hand down Gabriel’s face before he disappeared. 

Sam looked at the clock and sighed before getting up and heading to the kitchen for breakfast. When he got there he couldn’t help but chuckle. Yep, Gabriel was definitely all the way back. Only Gabriel would put on a full breakfast spread like this. Sam was just about to go get Dean, when he came in, supported by Jack. “Morning,” he mumbled as he sat down to eat. 

This was only Dean’s third day out of bed, but the wound was healing nicely. He would be moving around normally in another week or so probably and completely healed in two. “Morning, Dean. How are you feeling today?” 

“Better. I’m getting there,” he said with a nod. “Have fun yesterday?” he asked with a grin. 

Sam laughed. “Yeah. Gabe will be back tomorrow for a few hours at least for lunch,” Sam told him. He knew that Gabriel would want to hang out with the rest of them then too, rather than just get lost in Sam the whole time. They had talked a little about that, and about Jack and how they were going to fix him. Gabriel had asked Sam not to mention that part though, since he wanted to discuss it with Jack himself. 

Gabriel showed up back in heaven and called all the angels to the throne room. He wanted them to witness that he was back and committed. Once they were all gathered, even Cas, he sat down on the throne and let out a burst of his grace. Since his grace wasn’t tainted like Lucifer’s had been, the throne bound itself to him and immediately changed to his personality and he could feel the relief wash through the rest of the angels. 

“Okay, so…” he started. “Here’s how things are going to work from here on. I know that most of you were created after I left, so you wouldn’t remember how heaven used to be, and may not even believe me when I tell you that it used to be a place of joy and laughter, but that is how it will be again. We will be a family, not an army. Not that we won’t be an army at all, of course. Such things are necessary, but our main focus will be on family. You will all have to learn how to function on that level, but I know it will take time. Unless of course you would like to be re-educated. It will never be required, but if any of you would prefer that to learning as you go, I will allow it.” When they shifted uncomfortably, he added, “You don’t have to decide now. The offer will always be open.”

“Would you like us to be re-educated?” Indra asked. 

Gabriel shook his head. “I don’t like that method, and would prefer if you could learn yourselves, but I wouldn’t take the opportunity to make your own decision away from any of you,” he told them honestly. Locking them in one of those units and reprogramming them wasn’t something he particularly wanted to do, but since it was painless, he would let them decide. It would definitely be easier for them than adjusting, at least. “I would suggest, trying for a while before you make a decision. If you truly find yourself unable to adjust and want to do it the easy way, the option is available.” He could tell that they relaxed quite a bit at that. 

“I am not Michael,” he told them. “I am not Raphael, and I am certainly not Lucifer. I don’t want obedient little drones. I want you to be yourselves. Find your own personalities, your own interests, and as long as you follow the laws, you can do as you wish.” 

“Will the laws be changing?” Duma asked curiously. 

“I’m not sure what kind of laws have been implemented since I left, but we will be going back to the old laws that I remember, with a few revisions. I’ll make sure you all get a copy of them, but I’ll go ahead and hit the high points. Nephilim are still forbidden…”

“What about Lucifer’s Nephilim?” Naomi asked. 

“Let me finish,” he chided gently with a smile. “Should they happen, the child will not be held accountable for the parent’s mistakes, but the full weight of the law will descend on the angelic parent. I hope none of you ever make me do that, because I hate punishing people, but it is necessary. Nephilim are dangerous. As for Lucifer’s Nephilim, I will resolve that situation personally and soon. While they are forbidden, they will never be killed should they happen. Understood?” He waited until he saw every head nod before he continued. “Once we have enough manpower again, we will have to recleanse the world of Enochian magic. I know of at least one human who has unearthed enough to use it. He has been eliminated, but it would be folly to assume that there are no more. In this situation and this situation only, any humans with the knowledge, other than the Winchesters and the Nephilim, will be eliminated.”

“So they get special treatment?” Conrad sneered.

“They do. Partially because the younger Winchester brother is my soulmate, yes, but also because they understand the danger of the magic and have vowed to never use it, never allow it to be used, destroy any mentions they happen to find, and notify me personally should they ever find anyone who uses it. Anybody got any problems with that?” he raised an eyebrow. This was one thing that he wanted perfectly clear. They were under his personal protection and anyone who forgot that he wouldn’t hesitate to make an example of. 

Once again he waited until he saw every head nod, so he continued. “All crimes prior to today will be wiped clean. We all have a clean slate. That said, the next thing you all need to know is that, as I said, we are family. There will be no violence against each other outside of sanctioned training. Period. No exceptions. You will not attack or kill another angel for any reason. Should there be an issue that you are unable to resolve, there will be a chain of reporting that you can use. In the meantime, until that is set up and running, you bring the issue to me, or if I’m not here, to Castiel who will be able to reach me.”

“So Castiel is to be your second?” Duma asked. 

“Temporarily, yes. He knows me better than the rest of you do and has a better understanding of what I want and what I expect. However, since we both have ties back on earth and will be going back and forth, I will be working with someone else to take over,” he looked at Cas to make sure he understood that it wasn’t a slight against him and Cas just nodded in understanding. “Since those of you already here have enough adjustments to make with the new way of doing things and new attitudes, I expect I will likely choose one of the new angels to be my second, but I want to make it clear that this is no slight against any of you. I will be looking to you all first for any other leadership roles. You have done a great deal with very little and I am proud of you. I just think that it will be easier for someone programed with the new way of thinking to adjust to being my second for the time being.”

Not everyone was particularly happy about that, Duma in particular, but they did understand, and that was the best that Gabriel could hope for. “So you will be able to make new angels?” Anael asked hopefully. 

“I can. The secret is one that was originally only known to our father and to Michael, but I have a bit of a talent for uncovering secrets,” he told them with a chuckle, relaxing now that all the big stuff was out of the way. 

“Can you fix our wings?” Asariel asked. 

“That I don’t know. Once I get the first new batch of angels started and get the Nephilim situation handled, I plan to look into it. I will do everything I can to help with that, but I can’t make any promises,” he admitted. “Any more questions?” he asked, and when no one spoke up, he closed out. “There will be a lot of changes around here in a lot of ways and I will be meeting with you again to discuss them as they come up, but our first priority is going to be creating new angels, so that’s all for now,” he dismissed them.


	17. Chapter 17

Gabriel motioned Cas to stick around as everyone else filed out. Once they were alone, he motioned Cas to sit in the smaller throne. It wouldn’t bind to him since he wasn’t an archangel, but as long as he was Gabriel’s second that was his place. Cas hesitated a second before he sat and once he did, Gabriel told him, “I know this is going to be tough on you, but I’m gonna need you up here most of the time for a while.”

“How much is most of the time?” Cas asked. 

“I can spare you a few hours a day to go visit, and I’ll be taking a few hours a day myself, but they will have to be different hours. I want one of us here at all times for a while, other than Jack’s procedure of course. I know you’ll want to be there for that.”

Cas nodded, but pointed out, “I don’t have the ability to fly like you do brother. I would have to take the portal and then drive to the bunker and back. That will take more than a few hours alone.” 

“I’ll fly you back and forth until or unless I find a way to fix your wings. That only involves being gone a few seconds, so it’s no big deal.”

Cas nodded. “That is acceptable. Thank you. How long do you expect this arrangement to be in place?” 

“It’s going to take about a day for me to get the new angels started, and then a week for them to reach maturity. Once they are awake and functioning, it will take some time to integrate them into their duties and a little longer for me to groom one to be my second, so probably a month, maybe two at the most.” 

Cas nodded. “How many angels can you make at a time?” he asked curiously. 

“A hundred. I’ll be doing seventy five seraphs and twenty five cherubs in each batch for a while. I figure I’ll keep a steady stream until we have at least a thousand, using the week while the new batch is maturing to get each group integrated, so I’ll be working my butt off for quite a while.”

“You know I will help however I can, even when I am relieved of the obligation to do so,” Cas told him. 

“I know, Cassie. And thanks.”

“Do you have any plans for after that?” Cas asked curiously. 

Gabriel laughed. “Cassie, I was locked in that box for seventy years. I have more plans than you can shake a stick at. There wasn’t much else to do in there. I’ll go ahead and give you a broad overview though. Once we have our population up again, we are going to return to keeping hell at bay. There will always be a garrison watching any gates or portals and another patrolling the world. We are going to rebuild the garden better than ever and get rid of some of the utilitarianism around here. The human heavens will be reorganized and linked together so that people can visit their friends and family rather than being shut up alone. I have diagrams of how that will go that I’ll show you later. I plan to encourage the angels to find hobbies and learn how to have fun, and a lot of other things. I’m gonna make this place actually heaven again.” 

Cas grinned. “I knew you were the right one to lead us, brother,” he remembered the conversation when they first got to apocalypse world where Gabriel considered himself a screw-up, but one thing he knew about Gabriel was that when he committed himself to something he went all in. 

Gabriel smiled wryly at Cas, remembering the same conversation. “Yeah, well…we’ll see.” He got up and said, “I should go start on the new angels and you can go get back to work. After that, we can both take a few hours with the boys and get Jack taken care of.” Cas agreed and they went their separate ways. 

Gabriel knew that he would be tired after this, but thankfully the growing process only required a miniscule amount of grace. When he was done with all hundred, he would still have about half his reserves available even with the power that heaven was pulling from him to keep running. That would be enough to get Jack taken care of, but he would be completely beat after that. 

Gabriel went through and got all of the pods ‘fertilized’ so to speak and then activated them all with a wave of his hand as he stepped out the door and closed it, hearing the seal lock into place and heading out to find Cas. True to his prediction it had taken about a day and it was late morning by the time he had finished. 

Cas and Gabe landed in the bunker and Gabe immediately attached his lips to Sam’s but kept it PG since everyone else was in the room too. After greeting Sam, he asked Dean, “How are you doing?” 

Dean rolled his eyes, beyond sick of that question by now, but answered anyway. “I’m healing. It’s getting better.”

“Mind if I take a look?” Gabriel asked. He knew he wouldn’t be able to heal the wound, but he wanted to make sure it was healing okay on its own and wasn’t getting infected or anything since that he would be able to heal.

Dean shrugged and removed his shirts, allowing Gabriel to pull back the bandage. Gabriel placed a hand over it and used his grace to probe and make sure all was good before he replaced the bandage and nodded. “It’s healing up nicely. Sorry I can’t help it along, but archangel blades are a little beyond me even at full power.”

“It’s all good, Gabe. Don’t worry about it,” Dean assured him. 

“Now that’s covered, how are you doing, Jack?” he looked him over, now that he had enough power and gave an internal sigh of relief. His soul was a little damaged, but not so badly that he couldn’t work with it.

Jack looked nervously at him, knowing that Gabriel was back to power and that it was time to address his issue. “You tell me,” he half asked. 

“Your soul is in decent enough shape for me to work with. If you’re ready to extract your grace I can get you all healed up,” Gabriel told him as everyone in the room sighed with relief. 

Jack nodded and held out his hand for an angel blade, which Cas gave him, while Gabriel handed him a bottle to put the grace in. Jack raised his arm and drew a line across his throat and his grace poured into the bottle, which he sealed. Once that was done, Gabriel took the bottle, knowing that it would take a few days at least before Jack’s body started to break down so he had time to get rid of this first before any accidents happened. He was back within thirty seconds, and Cas was the first to ask. “What did you do with it, brother?” 

“I put it in the only place it would be safe. Tossed it in a black hole.” The humans blinked in surprise for a moment, not really used to such gratuitous display of power, but quickly got over it as Gabriel turned back to Jack. “You should probably lie down.” 

Jack laid down on the couch before asking hesitantly, “Is it gonna hurt?” 

Gabriel smiled encouragingly at his nephew. “Probably, but that’s why I’m gonna put you out first so you won’t feel a thing. When you wake up you’ll be good as new. Okay?” When Jack nodded and closed his eyes, Gabriel knelt next to the couch and put one hand on his forehead and one on his chest and closed his eyes as he started rewriting the key parts of Jack’s DNA that would allow him to survive without the grace. 

Everyone was standing around watching Gabriel’s hands glow for a good thirty minutes before he stepped back, finished. “This isn’t going to change him at all is it?” Dean asked. “I mean like, who he is, his memories, stuff like that.” 

Gabriel shook his head. “No. I made sure to leave that stuff alone. This was just about allowing his body to support him without the help of the grace. That’s the only thing that changed.” When Dean gave a relieved nod, Gabriel said, “He should wake up in about two hours and I’ll do one final check and make sure I didn’t miss anything then. In the meantime, I’m gonna steal Sammy here away for a while.” He grabbed Sam’s hand and disappeared with him.


	18. Chapter 18

Sam looked around and gasped. They were standing in a forest clearing with a waterfall feeding a crystal blue lake. “Where are we?” 

Gabriel grinned, keeping his nerves at bay, as he answered. “One of my favorite places on earth.” He quickly moved on to the reason he wanted to come here though. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Sam forced the worry away at that statement. Gabriel wouldn’t bring him someplace so nice to dump him after all. “About what?” 

“Well, I know you’re probably not ready for this yet and that’s okay. I can wait if you’re not, but…I wanted to ask if you wanted to…maybe…bond with me?” Gabriel managed to ask without sounding too much like an idiot. 

Sam grinned and grabbed Gabriel’s waist and pulled him close. “I’m not saying no, but I do kinda want a little more information before I say yes.”

“Right, yeah. Well it would basically tie your soul and my grace together for eternity. You would become immortal, but no powers come with it. You would be able to come to heaven with me though thanks to your connection to my grace. I know you would still want to spend a lot of time with your brother so you don’t have to be with me all the time, but you could come any time you want…”

Sam chuckled. “Gabe. You’re babbling,” he said amused. 

Gabriel couldn’t help a nervous chuckle himself at that. “Yeah. I guess I am.” 

“The important parts I got are that we would be together for eternity and I would never have to die and leave you behind, right?” Sam asked to clarify and Gabriel nodded. “Anything else important that I should know?” Gabriel shook his head. “Then yes. I’ll bond with you.” 

Gabriel picked Sam up and swung him around before kissing him deeply. “Now?” he asked hopefully. That was why he brought Sam here after all. There was no better place to do it in his opinion. 

“I’m guessing it’s not something to be done with spectators?” Sam asked, and when Gabriel shook his head Sam nodded. “Then yes. Now would be perfect. What do I need to do?” 

“First we need to get naked,” Gabriel told him. “Then I need to paint some sigils on you and you need to paint some on me. I’ll walk you through that part. Then I pump you with grace and we’re bonded.” 

Sam kissed Gabriel one more time before he started removing his clothes, prompting Gabriel to do the same. Sam had to redo his sigils a few times when they weren’t quite right, but he got it soon enough and then a big flash of light that probably would have burnt Sam’s eyes out if he wasn’t protected by the bond and then he found himself attacked by a happy archangel kissing him deeply and they made love out in the middle of the clearing, without a care in the world. 

Once they were sated, Gabriel curled up to Sam’s side happily. He finally had his soulmate forever. He looked forward to introducing him to heaven. They spent the rest of the next couple hours there before Gabriel got a prayer from Dean that Jack was waking up. “Reality intrudes,” he joked with Sam. “Time to get back.” 

Sam stretched and kissed Gabriel one more time before reaching for his clothes. It turned out to be pointless though since he suddenly found himself completely clothed, as was Gabriel before Gabriel took his hand and flew them home. 

Gabriel knew that Cas noticed when his eyes widened as soon as they landed, but Gabriel shushed him. “In a minute. Let me check the kid first.” He sat down next to Jack as the former Nephilim was sitting up and helped support him. “Easy. You’ll probably be a bit dizzy for a few minutes as your body adjusts. I’m just gonna double check and make sure everything’s okay.” He told him before placing a hand on his head for a minute and then nodding. 

“I’m good?” Jack asked hopefully. 

“Yup. All good,” Gabriel told him. 

“And I’m human now? For real?” 

Gabriel nodded again. “One hundred percent.” 

“Cool,” Jack said with a grin. As much as he’d hated being without his powers, he would have hated being without his soul more, so this was a good thing as far as he was concerned. 

“So, now that’s settled, Sammy and I have some news,” he said cheerfully getting up and going to sit in Sam’s lap. When everyone looked at them expectantly, Gabriel said, “We’re bonded.”

“What so I wasn’t invited to the wedding?” Dean snarked, but without any heat. 

“Well given that it would have burned your eyes out, I figured you’d rather give it a miss,” Gabriel joked. 

Dean snorted in amusement. He hadn’t actually been mad. Just a little hurt. But knowing that he /couldn’t/ be there helped. “Yeah, thanks for that,” he said with a grin, nodding to his brother to let him know he was happy for him. 

“Congratulations,” Jack said cheerfully. 

“Yes, brother. Sam. Congratulations. Will you be introducing him to heaven?” Cas asked Gabriel. 

“I will, but not today. I figure we’ll give it a few days for things to settle down first.” He looked at Sam. “Is that okay with you?” 

“Yeah. I’m good with that, Gabe,” Sam said happily, nuzzling against his bonded’s neck. 

“So are you guys gonna have a real wedding at any point?” Dean asked. 

Gabriel shrugged and looked at Sam. “Up to you, Samshine.”

Sam considered it. “Probably not. I mean, other than you guys and Mom who would come? The rest of the hunters, understandably, aren’t too big on the whole angel thing.” 

Dean considered that for a second before he realized that Sam was right. “Fair enough. But you get tell Mom about being angel married and all,” he laughed. 

Sam and Gabriel laughed with him. “I will,” Sam promised. 

It wasn’t long after that when Gabriel sighed and glanced up. “Looks like we’re gonna have to cut this a little short. I’m needed. I’ll come back by for a while tomorrow,” he promised Sam. 

Sam nodded. “Okay, Gabe. Love you.”

“Love you too, Samshine,” he said giving Sam a kiss before turning to Cas. “You coming Cassie?” 

“Yes. I probably should,” he said getting up and reaching out a hand to Gabriel before they disappeared. 

Gabriel and Cas reappeared directly in the throne room to find three angels waiting for them, and Cas looked worriedly at Gabriel as he stumbled upon landing. Duma was the first to ask worriedly though, “Are you alright?” 

Gabriel gave a dismissive wave. “I’m fine. Just overextended myself a bit. What’s the problem?” 

“There was a big power drain a few hours ago. We managed to stabilize much of it since we have more available with your presence, but we lost a few critical systems that we are unable to bring back up.”

“How critical?” Gabriel asked, kicking himself for not realizing how much power the incubators would take and warning them ahead of time. 

“I beg your pardon?” she asked confused. 

“Sorry. What I mean is, can they wait a few hours or do we need to bring them back up immediately?” Gabriel asked. 

“It will be a few hours before any damage becomes irreversible,” she told him. 

Gabriel sighed in relief. “Good. Then I’m gonna rest and recharge for a bit. Come get me about thirty minutes before it gets too bad and I’ll give ‘em a good kickstart, okay?” 

She blinked for a moment, trying to figure out what he meant before nodding. “Very well. Thank you, Gabriel,” she said with a bow before she left. 

Once he and Cas were alone, Gabriel leaned his head back against the throne. “Remind me later to address that bowing thing, will you Cassie?” 

Cas smiled, despite his concern. “Yes, brother,” he promised. “Are you sure you’re alright?” 

“Yeah. I’ll be good in a bit. The damage to my grace is fixed, I’m just running a little low at the moment. Making a hundred new angels, rewriting some dna, and initiating a bond was probably a little too much for one day,” he laughed tiredly. 

Cas snorted. “I would imagine so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll probably do a sequel to this one at some point with the whole introducing Sam to heaven, integrating the new angels, maybe throw in a little Chuck somewhere, not sure yet. For now though, this one is done.


End file.
